


Adopt Me

by Alpha_Maia



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Adoption, Bonding, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Foster Care, Slight OOC, toddler sonic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:15:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26186278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alpha_Maia/pseuds/Alpha_Maia
Summary: Rouge tells Shadow that he needs to do something about his loneliness. The suggestion that he thought was insane turns out to be the choice he makes.
Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog & Sonic the Hedgehog
Comments: 66
Kudos: 129





	1. Consider this

Shadow grumbled at his desk, doing the most boring thing he could ever do in this job. Paperwork. In all honesty, he’d rather be out on the field sweating and struggling to get the jump on his enemy. But alas, there were no field missions available. So he was stuck behind the desk, dreading the day until he could go home. He knew there wouldn’t be field missions available for a while, so he would have to be stuck behind a desk doing paperwork until then. 

After finishing signing yet another paper he sighed in annoyance and slumped back in his chair. He pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. This was the most boring part of his job, and he’d rather be fighting one hundred of the doctor’s robots over this. 

As he sat there groaning, he heard the door open, signifying that someone has entered his office. 

“What do you want, Rouge?” Shadow grumbled, not even looking at his visitor.

“How’d you know it was me?” The white bat asked, stepping further inside the room. 

“I can smell your perfume from here.” Shadow replied, finally looking at his colleague. 

Rouge just rolled her eyes and sat down on his desk. 

“So, what’s pulling your quills this time, sunshine?” She asked, 

“Just this damn paperwork.” he answered. “Why do they think it’s a good idea to give me this shit, when I didn’t even sign up to do this in the first place?” 

“I dunno, hun.” she replied. “But if it bugs you so much, why don’t you ask for a field mission?” 

“I _have_.” he said. “But there aren’t any available, Rouge. That’s why I’m here, behind this damn desk, doing this stupid fucking paperwork.” 

“Well, whining about it isn’t gonna make it stop.” Rouge scoffed. “Honestly, you whine about so many things.” 

“What’s that’s supposed to mean?” Shadow retorted, sneering at the bat. 

“It means, I’m starting to think work is too hard on you.” She replied. “Also, I’m starting to think you’re getting lonely.” 

“Lonely?” Shadow asked. “How so?” 

“Well, you’re picking up extra shifts at work, which you _never_ did before.” she started. “Which might indicate that you want to be around people, or are just lonely at your empty house.” 

Shadow looked at her like she was speaking another language. 

“Are you hearing yourself?” He asked. “Being alone is what I do. I’m always alone. I work alone, I live alone. And it doesn’t bother me.” 

“Uh huh.” Rouge said in a smug way. “Suuure.”

Shadow glared at her. He hated it when she poked her nose where it didn’t belong. And she did that pretty frequently. 

“Why does it matter to you, anyways?” Shadow asked, picking up another paper to go over. “I thought you could care less about my personal life.”

“Because you’re my friend, Shadow.” Rouge answered. “Friends care about each other. Well, most of the time. And I just want to make sure you’re okay.” 

“Well, I am.” Shadow replied. 

“Why am I having a hard time believing you?” Rouge asked, smugly. 

Shadow groaned in annoyance that she wasn’t leaving him be.

“I don’t know.” he replied. “You tell me.” 

“Maybe it’s because your shortest answers are usually not true.” She replied. 

Shadow tightened his fist around the pen he was holding and glared up at her again. 

“Well then what the fuck do you want me to do about it?” He snapped. “If you think I’m ‘oh so lonely’, then what do you suggest I do?”

“Literally anything.” she replied with a snarky tone. “Make more friends, get out more, fall in love. Hell, have a kid even.” 

Shadow immediately froze after hearing her last suggestion. 

“What did you just say?” He asked in disbelief. 

“I said get to make more friends, get ou-” Rouge started again, but Shadow interrupts her. 

“No, the last thing you said.” he explained. 

“Get a kid?” She asked. 

He stared at her like she was insane. 

“Are you even aware of what you are suggesting?” He asked. “Me? Have a kid? Child protective services would take them away before they even laid eyes on me.” 

Rouge scoffed and said, “You’re giving yourself way too much credit, hun.” 

“Rouge, are you listening to yourself?” Shadow asked. “There is no way in hell I would have a kid. I don’t have time for one, and they’re bratty, snotty, gross, and they never listen. Plus, I would make the worst father in history. You’re literally asking me, a merciless assassin, to take in a child, and you expect that to go swimmingly? Also, how would I even get a kid? Have a one night stand with one of my coworkers, risking my job, just for a kid who will leach money from me for 18 years?” 

Rouge just stared at him while he ranted, and when he finished, she placed a hand over her face, sighing and shaking her head. 

“You really **_are_ **a whiner.” she said. “You know that, right?” 

“What?” Shadow asked. 

“There’s other ways to have kids, Shadow.” She said, like it was basic knowledge. “Adoption is a thing. Also, I’m not trying to force you to have a kid. It was just a suggestion. No need to get so defensive about it.” 

She turned and left his office, leaving him alone once again. 

Shadow just shook his head and continued with his work, but Rouge’s words stuck with him for the rest of the day.

* * *

When Shadow got him, Rouge’s words were still fresh in his head, which made him pretty irritated. 

“What the hell does she think she’s talking about?” Shadow grumbled, taking off his jacket and hanging it on his coat rack. “Me? Have a kid? I’m sure a kid would disown himself than have me as their father.” 

Shadow walked into his kitchen to prepare himself some dinner, but the thought refused to leave his mind. 

Later that night, he was signed into the work email, ready to assign himself an extra shift the next day, but he hesitated before hitting send. He took a deep breath and opened up a search website and looked up the process steps of adopting a child. He hated it, but Rouge was right. He was rather lonely when he wasn’t at work. Although, he still didn’t believe a child would solve that problem. 

When he opened up the page, he noticed something that said, foster care. Raising a brow, he backed up and searched what foster care was.

After reading a few site descriptions, he summed it up to taking care of a child in your home until someone decides to adopt them. In other words, a temporary home to prepare the child for adoption. 

Shadow pondered at this information, and looked up the processing steps on becoming a foster parent. There were many procedures. Home checkup to see if the house was suitable for children, classes to learn how to be a proper parent and to earn your official license to become a foster parent. Shadow sighed at all the steps in place, but he understood that it was to make sure the kids would have a happy & healthy place to stay until they were chosen to be adopted. 

Shadow sat at his computer, his head leaning on his hand, considering the thought over being a foster parent. Rouge was probably right when she said he was giving himself too much credit. He had managed to control his anger a lot more now, and he didn’t threaten anyone when they bumped into him anymore. 

“This is probably the biggest mistake I’m ever making.” Shadow said to no one. 

Then he clicked on the link that brought him to a page to sign up for foster parenting classes. 


	2. The interview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow begins the process in becoming a foster parent.

Shadow sat behind his desk once again, doing incredibly boring paperwork. But this time, he wasn’t dreading the day. Instead, he was patiently waiting for the end of his day at work to attend a meeting he signed up for the night before. A meeting that would clarify if he was eligible to become a foster parent or not. He still couldn’t believe himself for even attempting this, since he didn’t know anything about kids to begin with. He was calling  _ himself  _ crazy over even considering going through with this. However, a small part of him told him that this idea was just crazy enough that it might actually be what he’s needed for so long

As he sat there at his desk, going over the paragraphs on the sheet in front of him, he heard a knock at his door. 

Without looking up, he answered, “Come in.” 

The door opened and revealed the same white bat from the day before. She waltzed up to his desk and leaned on it with her hands and arms. 

“Hey, sunshine.” Rouge said, teasingly. 

“Hello, Rouge.” Shadow replied. “Did you need something?” 

“I was wondering if you wanted to get some drinks after work.” she offered. “You’ve been working pretty hard, lately. And I think it’s time you treat yourself.” 

“While I appreciate the offer, Rouge, I’m going to have to decline.” Shadow responded. “I already have plans for tonight.” 

Rouge stood there in stunned silence for a minute before speaking up again. 

“You?” She asked. “Shadow the Hedgehog, have plans?” 

“Yes.” Shadow answered. “Is something wrong with that?”

“Since when do you make plans?” Rouge asked, completely confused. 

“I don’t understand why you’re making such a fuss about this.” Shadow replied. “Wasn’t it yesterday when you told me to get out more?” 

“Yeah, but I never actually expected you to take it.” She answered. “Also, what kind of  _ plans _ are you talking about? Are you going on a date of some kind?” 

Shadow groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Do you really think I would be able to find a date in a single night?” Shadow asked, unamused. 

“Okay, fair enough.” Rouge replied. “But tell me, what are these plans of yours?” 

“They are none of your business, Rouge.” Shadow replied, annoyed that she was poking her nose where it didn’t belong again. 

“Come on, Shadow.” She said. “If it’s embarrassing, I promise not to laugh.” 

“You won’t laugh either way because I’m not telling you.” He replied. “If you so desperately want to get drinks with someone, why not do it with your significant other and leave me to my own devices?” 

Rouge just rolled her eyes and shook her head. 

“I have nothing against that idea, but it doesn’t stop me from being curious about what you’re doing after work.” she said. 

Shadow just groaned and began to ignore her.

When she saw that he wasn’t answering anymore, she just sighed and began to walk out. 

“Will you at least tell me what they were tomorrow?” She asked, standing at the doorway. 

“No.” he replied, sternly. “It doesn’t concern you, so you don’t need to be so nosy about it.” 

“Okay, fine.” she sighed in defeat. “I just hope that, whatever you’re doing, you have a good time with it.” 

She then left his office, shutting the door behind her. 

“So do I.” Shadow said in a low voice. 

* * *

After work, Shadow went home and prepared himself for the interviewer to arrive at his house. 

As he waited, he caught himself staring at a picture he had of himself and Maria that Rouge and him found on the Ark. Shadow cried at first when he saw it, but having it in his house was nice. It helped him remember her better, and all the fun times they had together. He put away the memory of her death, and began to focus on the happier ones, as per Rouge’s advice. 

It helped a lot, and he was slowly starting to feel at peace with himself. But, of course, he still misses her, and there are times he feels so alone without her. 

“Maria, I wonder what you would say to what I’m doing now.” he said to himself. 

A light smile crossed his face as she imagined her being so happy for him, and encouraging him to go through with it. Maybe that’s why he was doing it. Because he knew Maria would encourage him to do it, and she would probably even tell him that it would benefit him. 

Although, he wasn’t sure how he’d benefit from taking care of a kid, but if it could help him, then what did he have to lose in trying? 

When the time arrived, he heard his doorbell ring. He went to open it, and was greeted by a weasel, whom he allowed into his home and shook hands with 

“Good evening, Mr. Shadow.” The weasel spoke with an accent. “It’s wonderful to meet you.” 

“Good evening to you too, sir..” Shadow replied, following the man into the building. 

“My name is Samuels.” the weasel said. “I’ll be interviewing you and taking a look around your home. Just as a precaution, you know? We don’t want the children to be taken in by bad people.” 

“I understand.” Shadow said, leading Samuels to his living room and sitting down with him

“Now I’m going to ask you a few questions about your personal life, okay?” Samuels said, pulling out a notebook and pencil. 

Shadow nodded in response.

“Okay.” Samuels said. “For starters; What was your childhood like?” 

Shadow was a bit taken aback by the question, but answered with the truth. 

“I never exactly had a childhood, per say.” he explained. “As I was created, instead of born. But my first years of life were rather pleasant. I spent all my time playing with this girl I took care of. We were best friends, and I treated her like she was my sister. I took care of her to the best of my abilities, and made sure she had a good life alongside my own.” 

Samuels nodded and wrote down Shadow’s response. “I can say I was not expecting that, but thank you for answering truthfully.” he said. “Next question; What’s your parenting style?” 

“Well, I’ve never been a parent before.” Shadow replied. “But following up with my previous answer, as a caretaker, I would make sure that the kid would be happy most of the time, and I would always try to make time for them. I would also make sure that they are well protected, and that they have a happy healthy life. I’m not sure how much better I can answer this, but I would just want to make sure the kid would feel safe around me, and would come to me if they ever had troubles.” 

“Well, that is a good answer.” Samuels said, finishing up writing down Shadow’s response. “Onto the next question; How do you and your partner support one another?” 

“I do not have a partner.” Shadow replied. 

Samuels looked up from his notebook. 

“So you plan to foster a child all on your own, yes?” He asked. 

“If that is allowed, then yes.” Shadow answered. 

“It is allowed, and it is more common than you think.” Samuels replied. “Next question is what activities do you and your family do together?” 

“I don’t have a family.” Shadow replied. “The girl I looked after died a while ago, and so did her grandfather. So I live alone.” 

“I see.” Samuels said, lowering his ears. “I’m sorry to hear that, Mr. Shadow.” 

“Thank you for your condolences.” Shadow replied. 

“Okay, since most of the next questions are family related, we will skip them.” Samuels said, putting his pen and notebook away and standing up. “Next, I would like to have a look around your home, if you don’t mind. Just to make sure it’s suitable for children.” 

“Of course, Samuels.” Shadow replied, standing up as well.

“Would you mind showing me which room you plan to be the child’s?” Samuels asked. 

Shadow guided Samuels to the office he had in his home. 

“This place used to be a bedroom before I converted it into an office.” Shadow explained. “But I would have no trouble reconverting it into a bedroom for a child.” 

“Alright.” Samuels said. “I would like to come back and survey it when you have finished, if I am allowed.” 

“Of course, sir.” Shadow replied with a nod. 

“Now, would you mind showing me around your kitchen?” Samuels asked. 

“Sure.” Shadow said. “Right this way.”

Shadow showed the weasel around his house, allowing him to inspect every room to make sure the house was completely safe and suitable for children. Shadow had hidden his guns earlier in his garage, since he knew they would complicate things. 

After finishing up inspecting the house, the weasel shook Shadow’s hand and gave him his contact information to contact him in the future once he had finished rebuilding the office into a bedroom for the child he will foster. 

When the weasel finally left, Shadow slumped in his chair once again and sighed. 

“What have I gotten myself into?” He asked himself. 


	3. Let us begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow begins working on the child's room

Shadow took some time off work to begin the reconstruction of the room for the child he was going to be fostering. He had no idea who it was, but he was hoping for a boy, so he began setting up things that he assumed a young boy would like. 

Before getting to that, he removed everything that was currently in the room, which included his desk, his computer, his file cabinets, et cetera. It took nearly a whole day of hauling everything to the garage. 

When he was done, he started to put down tape markers on where he would place the child’s furniture. He marked down where the bed would go, the dresser, the bookcase, and a toy chest, because he figured the child he would foster would definitely want toys to play with. 

After he was finished putting the markers down, he looked around the room to see if there was anything else he could do to make the room better for the child. It came to him that maybe he should repaint the room to a more childish color, instead of just leaving it as it’s normal color, which was a burgundy-reddish color.

Unsure of what was a good color for a child, he did a quick search, and decided on sky blue, since it was a color that most children would enjoy. He didn’t want to just pick a stereotypical boy color like just normal blue, red, orange or whatever. He wanted to make sure that this room would feel comfortable for both him and the child. Because if he cringed every time he walked in the room, then it wasn’t going to work out. 

He decided to head out and buy the paint so he could work on it before the day finished, and have it be dry the next day. 

Just before he headed out, he did a measurement of the walls to make sure he would buy enough paint to cover all the walls. 

When he was finished, he headed out and traveled to the nearest home improvement retail store, and made his way to the paint aisle. He checked around the papers that showed the paint colors and shades before finally finding sky blue paint. His measurements would require him to purchase two buckets of it, and since he was going to paint a light color, he had to buy white paint to paint over the burgundy so the colors wouldn’t mix. 

Shadow still couldn’t believe what he was doing, but no one ever said this process was going to be easy, and taking care of a child would obviously require a lot of dedication. Shadow turned his attention to one of the workers, since he would need to ask them to retrieve the paints for him. Being an introvert, this was going way out of his comfort zone. But he was already out of his comfort zone when he had that weasel inspect his home a few days prior. 

Shadow shrugged and decided that since he was already in this deep, he might as well continue going deeper. 

He approached the employee, asking as politely as he could if they could get him what he needed. They nodded and lead him to the paints and got him two buckets of white paint and two buckets of sky blue paint. He thanked them and took his paints to purchase. 

When he arrived back at his house with his purchases, he set them in the room, and returned to his living room, letting out a deep sigh. He just needed a few minutes of a break before he got back to work, because he had to go to his first foster parenting class that evening, and he didn’t want to do all this without any form of break. 

He let his eyes shut for a few seconds as he took deep breaths, and as he felt himself beginning to relax, his eyes shot open to the sound of his cell phone ringing. He groaned and picked it up to see who it was, and saw Rouge’s contact image on his screen. He was tempted to decline and go back to relaxing, but he figured he should in case she was in trouble, or she would think he’s in trouble and bust into his house like the last time he ignored her call. 

So he rolled his eyes and pressed the accept button. 

“Hello?” He said. 

“Shadow, where are you?” Rouge asked, sounding a bit anxious. 

“At home.” Shadow responded. “Why?” 

“What do you mean at home?” She asked. “Did you leave early or something?” 

“No, I took the day off.” Shadow answered. 

“Seriously?!” Rouge asked, surprised. “Since when do you take days off?” 

“Why does it matter, Rouge?” Shadow asked. “I was just sick of doing paperwork, so I decided to use what vacation time I had for a couple days. Is there a problem with that?” 

There wasn’t an answer.

“Is this about what happened yesterday?” She asked. “Did your plans affect you or something? You’re not acting like the Shadow I know.” 

Shadow rolled his eyes. 

“Well, everyone can change, Rouge.” He replied. “And I’ve decided to try something new. It’s something I never thought I’d do, but I’m going through with it because I’ve already put a lot of work into it as of now.” 

“Well, what is it that you are doing?” She asked. 

“You don’t need to know.” He responded. 

“I absolutely need to know!” She snapped back. 

“No you don’t.” he replied. “It’s nothing illegal or catastrophic or anything like that.” 

“And you think I’m gonna believe that?” She asked, sounding smug. 

“I expect you to, because if you know me at all, you know I’ve matured past those old days.” he replied, wishing she would stop bothering him and let him relax. 

“Fine, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying about you.” she said. “Are you going through some sort of midlife crisis or something?” 

“You’re calling my age ‘midlife’, Rouge?” he asked, earning a giggle on the other end of the line. 

“Fair enough, hun.” she replied. “But why don’t you just tell me what you’re up to? That way I’ll leave you alone.” 

“I highly doubt you’ll leave me alone even if I told you.” he said. “But if you  _ have  _ to know, I’m trying something new to help me with my… loneliness.” 

There was silence for a few moments, then Rouge finally spoke up again. 

“So you ARE lonely!” She announced. “I knew it!” 

Shadow groaned in annoyance.

“Yes, you were.” He said. “Now can you leave me be so I can enjoy my last few minutes of relaxing before I head out?” 

“Head out?” She asked. “Where?” 

“Rouge.” Shadow warned. 

“Alright fine.” she said, giving up. “I’ll figure out what it is sooner or later.” 

With that, she hung up, leaving Shadow grumbling in annoyance. He looked at the time and saw that that time he wanted to use to relax had been spent talking to Rouge. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. 

Well, at least he had rested his body before having to get back up. 

He stood up from his chair and headed back into the empty office and began to lay out the tarp to avoid getting paint on the carpet. He then set down a paint tray and began to pour some of the white paint onto it. When he had enough where it wouldn’t overflow, he took the rolling brush and rolled it in the paint, then began to roll it over the walls. 

It took Shadow about an hour to paint the whole room white without any trace of the burgundy ever being there. He stood back and admired his work, and left the room to clean himself of any paint that may have gotten on him, and let the paint dry. 

Since he had a class to go to for his foster care training, Shadow decided to paint the second coat in the room the next day instead of doing it later in the day when he was probably going to be tired after the classes. Since he needed to wait about four hours until applying the next coat, or it wouldn’t work properly. 

After finishing, the room was completely white, and didn’t have a speck of burgundy left. Shadow decided that he should use what time he had left before his class to get the relaxation he couldn’t get earlier because of Rouge. 

So he went back out into the living room after cleaning himself of any paint that had gotten on his hands, and sunk back into his chair. He set a timer on his alarm to when he had to leave, and leaned back, letting his eyelids fall and his breath slow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this one is kinda short. I didn't have much in mind for this chapter. But there will be more in the next one


	4. Almost

Shadow spent a large amount of money and time in preparing the child’s room. From painting it, to setting up the furniture, to making sure everything was perfect. He didn’t want all this work to go to waste. He wanted everything to go perfectly, and he wanted to make sure all this work he was doing wasn’t just for nothing.

He went to classes every single day during the reconstruction of the room, and actually learned more than he thought he would during them. Like how to help the child if they get hurt, how to comfort them, basically just how to be an actual parental figure to them. 

Every time Shadow learned something new made him think of his beginning years in life. If he was born instead of created, would his parents be this way with him? Would they be there for him if he had bad days? Would they help teach him things like how to read and how to write?

It would appear that he would never know, because he couldn’t change the past, nor should he try, as the past made him into the being he was today

It took Shadow a few days to completely set up the bedroom, since he had to go out and buy the furniture he was going to put in the room, like the bed frame and mattress, the bookcase, the dresser, and the toy chest, which he found out he had to put together himself. Then he went out to buy miscellaneous items, such as toys, children’s books, and some children’s clothes. 

Everything he did involved social interaction, which he despised, but it did sort of mentally prepare him that he wasn’t gonna have much alone time after this whole ordeal was over. He was going to have someone else living in his house with him. This would be the first time he wasn’t living alone in over 50 years. It was going to feel very strange, no doubt, but Shadow felt like this was something he had to do. For himself 

After a week of rebuilding the room, he felt as if it was ready for the child. So he phoned the weasel who interviewed him some time ago, asked if they could schedule a day to meet so Shadow could show him the reconstructed room. 

The weasel agreed and they set up a meeting that Thursday. Shadow thanked him, and hung up, walking back into the bedroom again to view his work again. He was actually impressed with himself. The room looked very well done, and he assumed that the child he will end up fostering will love it as well. Or at least he hoped so. He really hoped that the child he would take in wouldn’t be a brat of any kind. He hoped that the child had good manners, and that they knew how to listen.

Eventually, Thursday arrived, and so did the weasel. Shadow shook hands with Samuels again once he came in, and lead him to the child’s room. 

Upon entrance, Samuels halted his movements and stood in the doorway, stunned. 

“Oh my.” he said, taking a few steps inside. 

“Is something the matter, sir?” Shadow asked, following the weasel inside.

“Well, I was just not expecting you to get this much done since we last spoke.” Samuels admitted, looking around the room. “It’s quite fantastic. You must really be committed to this, Mr. Shadow.” 

“I… I suppose I am.” Shadow replied, nodding slightly. 

Samuels looked around the room, checking to see if everything was child friendly, and everything was suitable for a child. He made sure everything was stable, clean, and safe for any child who would come in here. 

“Based on the theme around here, I’m assuming you’d like to foster a boy, yes?” Samuels asked. 

Shadow nodded and said, “I just feel like it would be easier for me to get along with a boy, than a girl. Since I’m also a male, I feel like I’d be able to connect with the kid more.” 

“I understand.” Samuels replied. “And what age range are you going for?” 

“A younger kid.” Shadow said. “About four or five years old.” 

“Alright.” Samuels said, writing down Shadow’s preferences. “Well, in about eight weeks, you’ll be able to come down to the house and meet the kids.” 

“Thank you, Samuels.” Shadow said, shaking the weasel’s hand again, and lead him out the door. 

After Samuels had left, Shadow breathed a sigh of relief. He was so nervous that he wouldn’t pass the inspection and all the work he had done the past week would have been for nothing. He was so relieved that he passed. All he had to do now was just continue his classes for the next eight weeks, then he could go meet the kid he was going to foster. 

Speaking of classes, he realized he needed to head out to the class he was having that night.

He headed out, hopped on his motorcycle and rode his way to the building where he held his classes in. 

After walking in, he was greeted by his instructor, Ms. Taylor. 

“Welcome back, Mr. Shadow.” she greeted as he walked through the door. “It’s a pleasure to have you with us again.” 

Shadow just nodded and took his seat, prepared to learn whatever more he could in becoming a foster parent. He listened to every question and every answer to said questions, writing down every new piece of information he could. He wanted to be fully prepared with this choice he was making. 

One particular question he’d heard before, and thought about answering, but his introverted side of him decided it would be best to keep quiet. But it seemed his instructor had different plans. 

“Mr. Shadow?” Taylor called. “Do you know the answer?” 

Shadow looked up in slight alarm, as he was not expecting to be called out like that. The question was; If your child is hurt, what do you do? Shadow decided to save himself the embarrassment and answer the question rather than just staying quiet. 

“You check how bad the injury is, and tend to it to make sure it isn’t bleeding, and it isn’t badly bruised.” Shadow answered. “And make sure to comfort the child through the whole thing.” 

“Very good, Shadow!” Taylor chirped. 

Shadow gave her a slight smile, but then just went back to listening. 

It stayed that way for the rest of the class. Shadow listened to everything, absorbing every new bit of information he could get. And he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t intrigued. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how short this one was. I didn't have much in mind for it.  
> But I promise to have something good for the next chapter


	5. Final day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time is getting closer

Eight weeks. Eight long weeks of learning and relearning everything there was needed to learn about caring for a child. Shadow could practically remember every word spoken in that class by heart at this point. Which was good, because he was going to need to remember it all when he brings the child home. 

During his final class, as he was heading out the door, he was stopped by his instructor. 

“I just want to say, it’s been a pleasure getting to know you, Mr. Shadow.” Taylor said. “And, in my opinion, I think you’re going to do an amazing job with the child you get.” 

“Thank you, Ms. Taylor.” Shadow replied, giving her a light smile. “And I hope you are right about that, because, despite all this preparation, I am very nervous about all this.” 

“That’s understandable.” she said. “Kids sort of tend to have that effect on people.” 

Shadow nodded and bid her goodbye, then headed out to go home for the evening. 

Upon arriving, Shadow found he had a message left on his phone from Samuels, asking him to call him when he was available. Shadow had barely been paying attention to the weeks passing, and was slightly worried that there was something about his house that violated the rules of becoming a foster parent. Perhaps they performed a background check and saw his past crimes, and were wanting to tell him that because of his criminal history, he wouldn’t be able to be a foster parent. 

Shadow rubbed his temple and took a deep breath. Maybe that wasn’t the case. Maybe they just wanted to see if he still wanted to do this. Which was reasonable, because Shadow was still asking himself that question. 

Shadow sighed and picked up the phone dialing the weasel’s number. He listened to it ring a couple times, then the voice of the weasel took over. 

“Hello?” The voice spoke. “Samuels the weasel speaking.” 

“Hello, this is Shadow the Hedgehog.” Shadow replied. “I got a message from you that you wanted to talk to me?” 

“Ah, Shadow.” Samuels chimed. “Yes, I would like to talk to you.” 

“Alright.” Shadow said. “What about?” 

“Well, since you have completed your eight weeks of classes, I wanted to talk about what day we should schedule for you to come and meet the kids and select the one you will be fostering.”

“It’s been eight weeks already?” Shadow asked, surprised. 

“It has.” Samuels answered, letting out a slight chuckle. 

“Well, I guess a weekend would be the best time, since I can meet them without having to take time off work.” Shadow replied. “And, if the kid goes to school, then I wouldn’t be disrupting them in any way.” 

“Sounds good to me.” Samuels said. “Would you prefer this weekend or the next?” 

“This weekend works for me.” Shadow replied. “The sooner the better, yes?” 

“Absolutely.” Samuels agreed. “What day this weekend? Saturday or Sunday? And what time?” 

“How about Saturday at around noon?” Shadow suggested. “Does that work?”

“That works wonderfully.” Samuels replied. “I’ll email you the address, and you’ll be meeting one of our group home leaders there. Thank you for all you’ve done, Shadow. People like you make this world a better place.” 

Shadow was surprised to hear such cheery words like that. Usually people would think he was a bad guy because of his threatening demeanor, but, from what he guessed, since he was trying to help a little kid, maybe they looked past his appearance and saw him as something else about him. Something maybe even his closest friends didn’t know he had in him. 

Shadow smiled at the thought. Maybe this whole ordeal wouldn’t just help with his loneliness, but perhaps even shape him into an even better person than he is now. 

The work week was okay. There were a few field missions of having to scout out the doctor’s bases, and even fighting him at one point. Shadow didn’t mind. He preferred it to sitting behind a desk, signing papers. It also helped him get his mind off of the growing anxiety for the upcoming weekend when he would meet the kid who would come to live with him for a long while. 

When Friday rolled around, Shadow was getting ready to head home when he was stopped by Rouge. 

“Hey, hun.” She said, walking up beside him. “Got any plans this weekend?” 

“I do, in fact.” he replied. 

“Oh come on, Shadow.” she said, speed walking in front of him to stop him from leaving just yet. “You’ve had plans everyday after work and every weekend. What are you even doing that’s so important that you can’t even have a few drinks with a friend?” 

“What I’m doing is none of your concern, Rouge.” he answered. “Now let me through.”

“Why won’t you just spill the beans on your whole ‘help-with-my-loneliness’ plan?” She asked. “If you do, I’ll stop bothering you, and maybe even support you in it.” 

Shadow sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“I’ll tell you when I feel comfortable enough to tell you.” he said. 

“So, you’re not comfortable with telling me about this?” She asked. “Is it something personal and you don’t trust me to keep it a secret?” 

Shadow frowned. He knew she was trying to get under his skin and pressure him into telling her. 

“Maybe.” He simply said and stepped around her, heading towards the door. 

“Come on, Shadow.” she pried. “I can keep a secret.”

“I doubt you’d be able to keep this one.” he grumbled. 

“Shadow, can you at least just give me a hint?” She pleaded. 

“Rouge, just drop it.” he said, getting annoyed with her not stopping. “I told you, I’ll tell you what’s going on when I feel comfortable with it. It’s not because I don’t trust you, it’s because what I’m doing is completely new for me, and I want to get used to it before I let you know about it.” 

Rouge stood there for a few moments in silence, obviously trying to come up with an answer. 

She then let out a sigh and said, “Fine. Just... promise me you’re not doing something illegal or anything that will get you into trouble.”

“I promise, Rouge.” Shadow replied. “I’ve gone through everything to make sure what I’m doing is completely legal.” 

“Okay.” she said. “Good. Then I guess I’ll see you Monday, yeah?” 

Shadow nodded, and gave her a small wave goodbye, and headed out the door to his bike to head home.  
Upon arriving home, Shadow took off his jacket and plopped into his chair, sighing. Truth be told, he actually didn’t trust Rouge to keep this a secret. He knew that if she found out about him taking care of a kid, she’d scream the information to the whole world. And that would lead to a whole lot of problems that he didn’t want to face right now when he was so close to accomplishing his goal. 

The rest of the day was rather calm. Shadow just watched the news and a channel that featured NASCAR racing. Shadow slightly chuckled at the fact that he could outrun all those cars without a problem if he jumped on that track.

When darkness fell, Shadow turned off his television and headed to his bedroom to sleep. He set an alarm for the next morning so he could prepare himself for the drive over to the house where he would meet and select his foster kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you can't actually select the child you want to foster, but I don't care in this story  
> And Sonic will be appearing next chapter


	6. First meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow and Sonic finally meet

Shadow woke up to the sound of his alarm going off. He arose, hitting the snooze button and stretched his arms. He took in a deep breath as he lifted himself off of his bed. He was nervous about today, as today would be the day he meets his foster kid.

He walked into the kitchen, the thought running through his head as he made himself a cup of coffee. He kept his eye on the clock the whole morning, barely being able to focus on anything but the time. He was so anxious for the moment he had to go and pick the kid. He knew that after that moment, his life would change forever. He knew that as soon as the kid stepped into his home, there’d be no going back. Was he still sure about doing this? What even made him think he could do this in the first place? He never had a childhood, nor parents of his own. How was he supposed to parent someone else? And the fact that the child wasn’t even related to him.

Shadow shook his head and lightly smacked his forehead. That shouldn’t make a difference. He and Maria weren’t related in the slightest, but they treated each other like siblings. This would be similar to that, but also different. He could do this. He’d come too far to give up now. 

After his little internal monologue, Shadow decided to make himself some breakfast before heading out to meet the kids and their current foster parent. He didn’t want to head over there hungry and seem rude to children when he was going to be taking care of them. 

After finishing his breakfast and coffee, and watched the weather forecast, Shadow got himself ready to leave. He had written down the address, and set up a GPS on his phone to help find the place. He then headed out and got into the car he rented, because he assumed that he wouldn’t be allowed to take the kid back home on his motorcycle, plus he didn’t have a spare helmet for them either. So he was renting out a car to bring the kid home in.

It was about a forty-five minute drive to the house, so Shadow hoped the kid wouldn’t be too fussy on the trip back. He parked the car in the driveway and stepped out, walking up to ring the doorbell to announce his arrival. He heard some chattering inside, and heard the doorknob turn to open. Out came a fox with a little kid by her leg. 

She stuck out her hand to shake and said, “Hi! You must me Shadow the Hedgehog. It’s wonderful to meet you. My name is Amanda” 

Shadow took her hand and shook it, then followed her inside the residence. 

“I’m sorry about the mess.” She apologized. “The kids have just been really excited to meet you.” 

Shadow simply nodded and followed her into the living room, to which he saw had quite a few kids in it. 

“Kids, I’d like you all to turn your attention to our guest, here.” Amanda said, gaining the kids’ attention. “This is Shadow. He will be taking one of you home to foster until you are to be adopted. Isn’t that great?!” 

The kids didn’t share her enthusiasm, and backed away from Shadow, going back to what they were doing. Shadow simply rolled his eyes, as he was used to this sort of treatment from others, since he looked like someone you wouldn’t want to approach. 

He turned his head to meet Amanda’s eyes and she sighed. 

“I’m so sorry about that.” She apologized. “Here, how about you take a seat and I’ll talk to the kids and get them to come over and meet you one by one.” 

Shadow agreed, seeing as there was nothing else to do while he was here. As he sat down, he noticed a patch of blue in the corner of his eye, and looked up. There he was met with a little blue hedgehog, drawing in a notebook with crayons, holding his tongue out in concentration. The kid looked to be around the age range Shadow was considering, and appeared to be male, also in Shadow’s consideration. But what confused Shadow the most was that the kid wasn’t playing with the other kids. He was all by himself, the kids not even acknowledging him, and neither was Amanda. Was this her kid, perhaps? No that didn’t make sense. She was a fox and he was a hedgehog. Maybe she adopted him? 

“Alright, the kids are ready to meet you.” Amanda said, pulling Shadow out of his thoughts.

“If I may ask, who’s that little boy?” Shadow asked, pointing at the young blue hedgehog. 

Amanda looked to see who he was referring to, and let out a sigh. 

“Oh right.” she said. “That’s Sonic.”

“Why is he not playing with the other kids?” Shadow asked. 

“He gets bullied because of the unnatural color of his fur, so we try to keep him away from the kids so they don’t hurt him.” Amanda explained. “He’s a sweet kid, but it appears that nobody wants him. Sad, isn’t it?” 

“What do you mean ‘nobody wants him’?” Shadow asked.

“Well, he was abandoned at a very young age.” Amanda explained. “We have no knowledge of who his parents were, or anything about him. All we know is his appearance, his health, and some odd little abilities that he somehow has.” 

“Odd little abilities?” Shadow asked. “What kind of abilities?”

“Well, the main thing we’ve seen him do is run really fast.” Amanda said. “Hence why he is named ‘Sonic’. He actually named himself that when he heard one of the doctors talking about him running at a supersonic speed.” 

Shadow let out a little chuckle at that.    
“Could I meet him?” He asked. 

“Sure!” Amanda chirped, then turned in Sonic’s direction. “Sonic, can you come over here, sweetie? This man would like to meet you.” 

Sonic lifted his head from his drawing and saw Amanda next to Shadow. He didn’t look scared or anything. He didn’t even hesitate. He just picked up his notebook and crayons and came right over. 

“Sonic, this is Shadow.” Amanda said, gesturing to the dark hedgehog. “He’s here to pick out a kid he would like to foster, and he said he wanted to meet you. Is that okay, honey?” 

Sonic nodded and looked at Shadow. 

“Hi, mister.” Sonic said, putting on a smile and holding out his hand. “My name is Sonic.” 

Shadow raised a brow, but shook the kid’s hand anyways. 

“Hello, Sonic.” Shadow replied. “I’m Shadow.” 

Sonic beamed and his smile seemed to grow wider. 

“It’s nice to meet you, mister Shadow.” Sonic said in a polite voice. 

Shadow could tell he was trying super hard to be polite. Maybe he was actually scared of him, but was worried that if he was rude, Shadow may react badly. So Shadow decided to break the ice a little. 

“What were you drawing over there?” He asked. 

Sonic’s eyes shot open, startled at the question. His ears and cheeks started to go red and he started to hold his notebook close to him and rock back and forth on his heels and toes. 

“Just... just some flowers, mister.” Sonic replied, sounding nervous. 

“Can I see?” Shadow asked, trying to be polite. 

Sonic hunched his shoulders, but reluctantly handed his notebook to Shadow. Shadow took the notebook and skimmed through a couple pages until he landed on some drawings of sunflowers. They were cute, and not terrible for this kid’s age. Shadow would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little bit impressed. He expected just a poorly drawn circle with some squiggly lines going all around it, but not like this. 

“You drew these?” Shadow asked Sonic, showing him the page he was looking at. 

Sonic hunched his shoulders again and held his hands behind his back, nodding solemnly. 

“They’re really good.” Shadow complimented, looking at the drawings again. 

Sonic looked up at Shadow, and Shadow could swear the kid had stars in his eyes. 

“Really?!” Sonic said, sounding quite excited. 

Shadow nodded, smiling at the kid’s enthusiasm. 

“Wow!” Sonic exhaled. “No one’s ever told me that before.” 

“Really?” Shadow asked, sounding surprised. 

“No, the other kids say my drawings look stupid.” Sonic said sadly. 

“Then they’re probably just jealous that they can’t draw as good as you can.” Shadow remarked, handing the notebook back to Sonic. 

“You think so?” Sonic asked, his little tail wagging with glee. 

“I can bet on it.” Shadow replied, shooting Sonic a wink. 

Sonic was beaming again, his tail wagging a mile a minute. And Shadow never thought he’d see the day he’d make a kid so happy, when he’s made so many kids in the past cry just by looking at them. 

“Alright, boys.” Amanda’s voice spoke up, and the two hedgehogs looked up to see her approach them. “How are you two getting along?” 

“We’re getting along great, miss Amanda!” Sonic chirped. “Mister Shadow is super nice, and he even said my drawings were good!” 

“Oh he did, did he?” She asked, earning an energetic nod from the little blue hog. “Well, Mr. Shadow, are you ready to meet the other kids?” 

Shadow stood up from his seat and spoke, “Actually, I’d like to have a word with you.” 

Amanda was surprised, but agreed and walked with him away from the chattering kids. 

“So, what would you like to discuss, Mr. Shadow?” She asked. 

“I think I’ve made my decision.” Shadow replied. 

“Already?” Amanda asked. “Why, that was fast. And I hadn’t even introduced you to all the kids. Which one are you willing to take with you to become your foster kid?” 

“You didn’t need to, miss.” Shadow regarded. “It was obvious the moment I came here. And the kid I’d like to take with me would be Sonic.” 

Amanda’s eyes widened and she looked back in Sonic’s direction.

“Are you sure?” She asked. 

“Of course I’m sure.” Shadow declared. “Why do you ask?” 

“I wasn’t kidding when I said no one wanted him.” She said in a low voice. “He’s been in many different foster homes, and they always have a complaint about him and send him back here. Each complaint being the same. Because he doesn’t look like a normal Mobian.” 

“That’s not his fault.”Shadow said, annoyed that someone would even think that about a child. “He can’t control his appearance.” 

“I know, but it’s just been so hard for the little guy.” She said. “This has been going on for about a year, so he’s super nervous when going into new homes. So he would absolutely be shy when you take him with you. Are you sure you want a shy child?” 

“I don’t appreciate the way you're talking about him, as if he is an item on the shelf that has a dent in it.” Shadow growled lowly. “Just because he’s different doesn’t mean he should be treated differently from the other kids. And yes. I’m absolutely sure that he is the one I want to take home with me.” 

“Alright.” Amanda said. “Thank you so much for giving him a chance. I’m sorry if I came off as seeming to demobianize him when I was describing him, but I just want to make sure that he will actually be happy for once, instead of having to walk on eggshells and worry about coming back here.” 

“Don’t worry about anything.” Shadow replied. “I’ll make sure he’s as happy as can be.” 

Amanda smiled and walked back over to Sonic. 

“Hey, Sonic.” she said, leaning down to speak with him. 

Sonic looked up at her and said, “Yes, miss Amanda?” 

“Shadow over there says he wants to take you with him to be his foster kid.” she said, pointing at Shadow. 

“Really?” Sonic asked, his eyes growing wide. This super nice man wanted to take him home with him? He couldn’t believe it. It was almost like a dream come true!

“Yeah, honey.” Amanda answered. “So can you get all your things and meet him at the door?” 

Sonic nodded ecstatically and grabbed his things, which were mostly markers, crayons, and his notebook. Then he proceeded to walk over to the doors to meet up with Shadow. 

When Shadow saw Sonic approaching, he gave him a light smirk and said, “You ready to go?” 

Sonic nodded happily and waved to Amanda. 

“Everyone say, ‘Goodbye, Sonic!’.” She instructed the other kids. 

There was a chorus of the kids saying “Goodbye, Sonic”, and a few waves. After that, Sonic and Shadow were out the door and getting into Shadow’s rented car for the trip home. 

“I hope your patient, because it’s gonna be a bit of a long drive back to my place.” Shadow said, buckling Sonic into the booster seat he had. 

“Okay.” Sonic replied, and stared out the window as Shadow got in the driver's seat and began to pull out of the driveway to begin the journey back to his home, and Sonic’s new home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now Sonic will finally be in every upcoming chapter


	7. A new life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow and Sonic finally arrive home, and Sonic is just in awe

The drive back home was pretty quiet. Quieter that Shadow was expecting. Sonic hadn’t spoken a word since they left, and it was quite worrying. He expected him to ask questions about his life, and what his house was like. But he wasn’t getting anything. Not even an “are we there yet?”. Shadow was concerned that something might be wrong with the kid, so he decided to break the silence. 

“Are you doing okay back there?” Shadow asked, glancing back for a moment. 

“Huh?” Sonic spoke, startled at the question. “Oh. Yes, I’m okay.” 

“Alright.” Shadow replied. “I’m just making sure, since you’re pretty quiet back there.” 

“I just didn’t want to distract you while you’re driving, mister Shadow.” Sonic admitted. 

“Well that’s very kind of you.” Shadow replied. “And you can just call me Shadow. You don’t have to be so formal.” 

“Alright, mister- I mean, Shadow.” Sonic said, a slight blush dusting his cheeks. 

Shadow let out a light chuckle. He had a feeling he made a good choice in choosing this kid. Even though he was shy, Shadow could manage with that. That meant they were both socially awkward, so they would be able to understand each other pretty well. 

“I’m sorry if I’m bothering you, Shadow.” Sonic spoke up. “But, are we almost there?” 

Shadow laughed lightly through his nose. There it was. The age old question.   
“We’re almost there, kid.” he replied. “Just a few more minutes.” 

“Okay.” Sonic said, going back to looking out the window. 

After about ten more minutes of driving, they finally arrived back to Shadow’s house. Shadow pulled into the driveway and turned off the car. He then proceeded to get out and help Sonic out of his booster seat, then lifted him up and into his arms. He sat Sonic on his forearm while he picked up Sonic’s bag of items and shut the door behind him, locking it with the button connected to his keys. After he was sure it locked, he carried Sonic up to his door and into his house. 

Upon entering, he set Sonic down and handed him back the items that he brought with him, which were just his notebook and coloring utensils. Sonic looked around the place after he was set down, and he seemed mesmerized by it. Shadow chuckled at the look on Sonic’s face as he saw his TV. He probably had never seen one so big. 

“Your house is amazing, Shadow!” Sonic exclaimed, looking around. 

“Well, thank you, Sonic.” Shadow replied. 

“It’s so big!” Sonic squealed, stretching his arms out like trying to measure the whole room with them. “I’ve never seen a house this big before!” 

“Well, then I hope you enjoy your room.” Shadow said, taking off his jacket. 

“I have my own room?” Sonic squealed. “Is that huge, too?! I wanna see it! I wanna see it!” 

Shadow flinched as Sonic started to zoom around him. It seemed that his caretaker wasn’t lying about his super speed. He wasn’t as fast as Shadow, but Shadow had a feeling that would change as Sonic matured. 

“Calm down, Sonic.” Shadow said, quickly reaching out and grabbing Sonic’s arm before he could make another lap around him. 

Sonic froze in Shadow’s grip, looking up at him fearfully. Shadow’s gaze softened when he saw the terror in his eyes, and loosened his grip on his arm. 

“I-I’m sorry.” Sonic stuttered, shrinking under Shadow’s eyes.

Shadow knelt down in front of Sonic and placed his hands on his shoulders. Sonic met his eyes with a fearful look. Shadow had no doubt his previous foster families weren’t so nice to him, which meant he was probably going to get scared when Shadow raised his voice or grabbed him like that. This meant things would be a little tough, considering Shadow still had a bit of a short temper, so he was going to have to work on that. 

“Hey, it’s okay.” Shadow said, softening his look in hopes of calming the boy down. “I’m sorry if I scared you. Let’s just leave the running for outside the house, okay? Just so we don’t break anything.” 

Sonic just nodded, blinking quickly to avoid the oncoming tears. 

“I’m sorry, buddy.” Shadow said, pulling Sonic in for a hug, which was something he would never do. But the classes he took taught that you should regularly give the kid hugs and kisses. Shadow could do hugs, but he wasn’t sure about the kissing thing. He hopes Sonic won’t mind it. “How about I show you your room? Will that make you feel better?” 

Sonic was silent for a moment, then said, “I think so.” 

“Alright.” Shadow said, standing up and offering his hand to Sonic. “Come on.” 

Sonic took his hand and followed Shadow. Shadow lead him to the room he built for him and opened the door to reveal it. The look on Sonic’s face changed dramatically. His jaw dropped and his eyes lit up like stars. He let go of Shadow’s hand and walked inside. He looked all around the room, mouth agape, in awe. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, and when he opened them again, he jumped back in surprise, throwing his hands over his mouth, stifling a gasp. His tail was wagging again, as fast as it was when Shadow complimented his drawings. 

“All of this is for me?” Sonic asked, looking at Shadow in amazement. 

Shadow smiled and nodded. Sonic’s wide mouth then turned into a wide smile as he squealed with joy, and began looping around the room in happiness pointing out everything. 

“Oh my gosh, I have my own bed!” Sonic gushed. “I have my own clothes! My own toys! My own room! Oh my gosh, this is so awesome!!” 

Shadow let out a light laugh, and sat down on the bed, Sonic plopping down next to him. 

“Thank you so much, Shadow!” Sonic squealed, throwing his arms around Shadow’s torso and hugging him tightly.

Shadow flinched at the sudden gesture, not expecting to be hugged. He just sat there, frozen for a moment.   
Sonic must’ve sensed his discomfort because when Shadow didn’t hug back, he immediately let go and looked away. 

“Sorry.” he said. “I should’ve asked first.” 

Shadow raised a brow. Were the foster families before him really that strict that he had to ask for something as simple as a hug?

“No, you shouldn’t have to ask for something like that.” Shadow said, putting his arm around Sonic and pulling him in again. “If you want to hug me, you can just hug me.” 

Sonic looked up at him hopefully.   
“Really?” He asked, eyes wide and glistening. 

Shadow nodded. Sonic smiled again, and wrapped his arms in a tight hug around Shadow again. Shadow wrapped one arm around the kid in return and rubbed his back.

“I didn’t think you’d be so surprised by the room itself.” Shadow said. “You act as if you’ve never had a room of your own, or anything of your own at all.” 

He felt Sonic freeze and then his grip go slack. He looked down to see his ears flop and his eyebrows knit together. 

“What’s that look supposed to mean?” Shadow asked, lifting Sonic’s face to meet his own. 

“Well, I never actually _had_ anything of my own.” Sonic informed Shadow. “I had to share everything with my foster siblings. I never really had anything to call my own. Not even a bed of my own.” 

To say Shadow was surprised by this information would be an understatement. He was absolutely appalled by it. How could someone be so cruel? And to a child, no less. Shadow had no idea there were people that awful. Well, except for Doctor Robotnik, of course. But he didn’t have children. And Shadow doubted that even he would be that cruel. The doctor was evil, but he wasn’t cruel. 

“That’s awful.” Shadow finally said. “How in the world were those people even foster parents to begin with? I thought you had to prove you were a good person before even becoming a foster parent.” 

Sonic just shrugged and sighed.   
“I don’t know.” he said, leaning against Shadow. “But I do know that I’m very thankful that you did this for me.” 

Shadow looked down at Sonic’s big green eyes and smiled. 

“You’re welcome, kid.” he responded, ruffling the fur on Sonic’s head. “Now why don’t you get yourself situated with the new room while I go make us some lunch.” 

Sonic giggled at Shadow’s gesture and nodded while smoothing down his fur. Shadow nodded in return and stood up, heading to the kitchen to make the two of them some sandwiches. 

“By the way, do you like turkey?” Shadow asked, looking back at the kid before leaving. 

“I’ve never tried it.” Sonic replied, shrugging. 

“Well, then I guess we’ll see how you like it.” Shadow said, leaving the hedgehog alone. 

After Shadow left, Sonic squealed with happiness. He bounced all around his room and admired everything he could now call his. He opened his toy chest and gasped at all the toys, picking out two super heroes, and began to play with them. 

Shadow was finishing up making the sandwiches and chuckling at Sonic’s happy squeals when he had left the kid alone. When it was silent, he assumed Sonic had finally calmed down and was keeping himself entertained. Shadow just shrugged and continued with making their lunch.

When he was finished, he set the sandwiches on the table and went to get Sonic. He poked his head in and saw him playing with the toys and talking to himself with silly voices. 

“Haha! No one will ever defeat me!” Sonic said in a cheesy villain voice. “I’m the evil Dr. Eggman, and no one will ever stop me!” 

“Oh yeah? Well I’m Sonic the Hedgehog, and I’m going to stop you no matter what you say.” Sonic spoke in his normal voice that time, and began making noises of what sounded like explosions and hitting sounds. 

“Oh no!” Sonic went back to the villain voice of who Shadow guessed was Dr. Eggman. “How could I have been defeated by such a cool and awesome hedgehog?!” 

“You’re no match for me!” Sonic said in his normal voice again. “I’m a superhero! And superheroes always win!” 

“Are you having fun?” Shadow spoke up, letting Sonic know he was there. 

Sonic looked back to see Shadow leaning on the door frame and smiled.   
“Yeah!” He replied. “All of this is awesome! I’ve never had my own toys before.” 

“Well, I’m glad you’re having fun.” Shadow said with a smirk. “But lunch is ready for you to eat, so you better come and eat.” 

Sonic put his toys back in the chest. Another thing he was probably taught in the other foster homes was that he was supposed to keep the place clean. Shadow was okay with that, if it meant he didn’t have to remind Sonic to pick up his toys all the time. Sonic then followed Shadow out into the kitchen, where he hopped into a chair and looked at the food in front of him. He looked over at Shadow, who sat down and began eating his own sandwich. Sonic then looked back at his own, furrowing his brows and sniffing the food. 

Shadow saw this and spoke up.   
“Something wrong, Sonic?” He asked, meeting the blue one’s eyes. 

“It smells kinda funny.” Sonic commented. “What exactly is in it?” 

“Turkey slices and some miracle whip.” Shadow explained. “It has the same things in the one I’m eating.” 

“What’s miracle whip?” Sonic asked. 

“It’s kind of like mayonnaise, but with different ingredients. 

“Mayonnaise?” Sonic asked, receiving a nod. “Yuck!” 

Shadow rolled his eyes and took another bite of his sandwich. 

“Just try it before you decide you don’t like it.” he said.

“Okay.” Sonic said, sounding reluctant. 

He proceeded to pick up his sandwich, giving it another sniff before taking a small bite out of it. Shadow smirked and watched as Sonic slowly chewed and swallowed. 

“Well?” Shadow spoke up. “How is it?” 

“It’s good.” Sonic replied, taking another bite. “Just the last family that fostered me would only give me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so I grew to dislike those a lot.”

“Understandable.” Shadow responded. “Now finish up, and then you can get back to playing.” 

“Okay.” Sonic replied after swallowing his bite. 

“Also, if I may ask, who is Dr. Eggman?” Shadow asked. “I heard you playing and mention that name. Is he some sort of villain you’ve made up?” 

“No, he’s the big scary guy on TV with all the egg shaped robots.” Sonic replied. 

“You mean Dr. Robotnik?” Shadow asked.

“Is that his name?” Sonic asked in return. “I always called him Dr. Eggman because he looks like an egg, and all his robots look like eggs.” 

Shadow let out some laughter at that.   
“That’s a funny thing to call him.” he said. “I’ll have to use that to taunt him next time I fight him.” 

“Wait... you fight him?!” Sonic asked, eyes widening. 

“Yeah.” Shadow replied, finishing the last bite of his sandwich. “I’m probably one of those guys you see on TV with the big guns who destroy the robots and stuff.” 

“THAT’S SO COOL!!” Sonic exclaimed. “So, you're like a superhero?!”

Shadow wasn’t expecting the raise of voice, but he responded with, “I guess it does, if that’s what you’d like to believe.” 

“That’s awesome!” Sonic squealed. “I’m living with a superhero!”

Shadow smiled at Sonic’s enthusiasm. He never expected anyone to see him as a superhero. In fact people wouldn’t even see him as a normal hero, since he wasn’t always one. But to have someone so young see him as someone to look up to, it made Shadow feel good. And he hadn’t felt good in quite a while. 

Maybe this whole thing was what he needed the whole time. Maybe... this is what Maria was talking about when she said give them a happy life. 


	8. Ups and Downs

After eating lunch, Sonic went back to playing with his toys. Shadow could hear him making up a new scenario of himself being the hero and defeating Dr. Robotnik, or Eggman as the child named him. Shadow still found that name quite funny, and was surprised that this small child that he barely knew could make him genuinely smile so easily, than his friends who he’s known for years and couldn’t even get a smirk out of him. This child surely was something else. 

Shadow’s ear twitched as he heard Sonic making explosion sounds, which he assumed was him beating the villain again. Shadow did enjoy his enthusiasm, but he hoped that the kid wouldn’t grow up, having to fight everyday for freedom like he does. He hoped that the kid would grow up just having a life without worry. The fight between the world and Dr. Robotnik shouldn’t involve someone so young. And yet, there were people who were barely adults fighting it. He wouldn’t want that life for anyone. Heck, he didn’t even want it for himself. But he made a promise, and he intends to keep it.

Shadow headed to his room where he set up his computer to work. He logged into his work site and began to do some online work to make up for the vacation days he took. He began to review new contracts and recent sightings of the doctor, to make sure they had a pinpoint on where he would attack next. From the reports it looked like his most recent sighting was just outside the city where Shadow lived.  
Shadow lightly growled and booked himself for a scouting mission that Monday to find the doctor and see what he was up to this time. He would have booked it sooner, but he had to be home to take care of Sonic, and he wasn’t ready to let anyone know about him yet. It made him slightly worried that they would try to take him away, after all his hard work in getting him here. 

A knock at the door pulled Shadow out of his clouding thoughts. He turned towards the door, thinking the visitor would have already opened it. When it wasn’t, he responded. 

“Come in.” He said, knowing who it was. 

The door slowly creaked open, and Sonic poked his head in, looking at Shadow curiously. When he saw Shadow at his computer, he hunched his shoulders, looking shy. Shadow raised a brow at his behavior. Perhaps in his old foster homes, they didn’t like when he disturbed them. 

“Do you need something, buddy?” Shadow asked, trying to sound friendly and welcoming, as to not scare the kid. 

“Are you busy?” Sonic asked, folding his ears against his head and hunching his shoulders. 

“Not really.” Shadow replied. “Why? Do you want something?” 

Sonic shyly crept into the room, slowly walking up to Shadow. Shadow saw something in Sonic’s arms. It looked like a book, but before Shadow could get a better look at it, Sonic tossed it into his lap and dashed out of the room. 

Shadow was stunned at the action, but looked at what Sonic had given him. It was his coloring notebook, but it had a picture on the open page. It had some flowers drawn in crayon, but they didn’t look like any normal flowers. They were red and black., with gold stems. Shadow looked at them for a good while, then realized that they were his colors. The flowers were red and black like his fur color, and the stems were gold like his inhibitor rings. Sonic must’ve drawn that for him. Shadow was quite stunned at the action. Sonic had barely known Shadow for a day, and he suddenly decided to make something for him. Shadow must be much nicer than whatever families Sonic had before for Sonic to feel that gracious to give him something like this. He tore the page out as gently as he could, and went to find a frame to put it in. He wanted to remember this moment forever. 

After taking the page, he set it on his dresser, and went out to find a frame. Upon exiting his room, he saw Sonic sitting on the couch, watching TV. He expected to see some kids channel, but instead he saw a sports channel on, and Sonic watching other mobians run track. Shadow would have never expected that from a kid his age, but he guessed it came from his unnatural speed that made him interested. 

He smirked and walked past him, putting the notebook in Sonic’s room on his dresser. He then headed out to look for an extra frame he had laying around. He doubted he had one, since he never hung pictures anywhere. However, he surprisingly found one left in the hall closet. He guessed it must’ve been a came in a pair with the frame he bought for Maria’s picture.  
After pulling it out of the remaining plastic he left it in, glad that he hadn’t thrown it away when he bought it. He took it back to his room, opened it and began to fit the drawing inside whilst trying not to smudge the crayon. When it was fully in the frame, he sealed it shut and placed it on his dresser. He smiled at it and headed back out to join the little blue hedgehog on the couch. 

When he returned to the living room, he saw Sonic was still on the couch. But instead of watching the track runners on the TV like he was earlier, he was holding and observing the picture of Maria. Shadow gasped seeing his only piece of his friend being handled by someone other than him. 

“Don’t touch that!” Shadow snapped, startling the child in front of him. 

Sonic yelped and ended up tossing the picture as he jumped in surprise, causing the glass in the frame to shatter once it hit the ground.

“NO!!” Shadow yelled, rushing to the broken pieces of the picture frame. 

He fell to his knees, picking up the frame and examining the picture inside. Thankfully, no glass had torn the picture, but Shadow was still angry. Bared his teeth and turned to look at Sonic, who held his hands over his mouth and had his eyes widened with fear. 

Shadow felt the urge to hit Sonic rising, so he needed to get the kid out of his sight. 

“Go to your room.” Shadow commanded in a growling voice.

Sonic wasted no time and scrambled off the couch and dashed to his room. When he was out of sight, Shadow stood up and yelled in anger, delivering a hard punch to his couch, knocking it over. He didn’t care if his voice would scare Sonic, after all it was his fault the glass in the frame was broken, since he dropped it. Shadow wanted to punch something else, but didn’t want to break anything that was expensive. He left the glass where it was and dashed out of the house and down to his workplace. He went into the shooting range, put on some earmuffs to block out the sound, loaded his firearm, and began to shoot the target in front of him. 

No one questioned why he was there, seeing the angry look on his face. They just let him shoot. If his anger helped sharpen his aim, then they had no qualms with him being there outside of his scheduled days and hours. 

* * *

Shadow repeatedly shot the target and reloaded his gun for what felt like days, but was actually and hour. When most of his steam was blown off, he returned the gun he used, and dashed back home. 

When he returned, he saw the glass was still on the ground, and the couch was still tipped over. He sighed irritably, and began to clean up the glass. After collecting every shard, he tossed them into the trash bin in the kitchen. He then returned to the living room and tipped the couch back up. The TV was still running, so he switched it off. When he looked back down at the picture in it’s broken frame, he scowled. He didn’t want his prized possession in a broken frame. But the only frame he had was... the one that contained Sonic’s drawing. Shadow set the broken frame on the table it was on before and headed into his room. Upon entering, he spotted the picture right away. He went to open it, take out the picture and rip it up. How could he ever see this awful drawing as something worth more value than the memory of his best friend? 

As he reached out to take it, his hand stopped above it. He was still scowling, but found his face softening as he stared at the drawing. He could envision Sonic sitting in his room, making that silly face with his tongue sticking out as he concentrated on making this drawing for Shadow. And he remembered how shy he was when he came into his room to give it to him. Sonic probably worked hard on making this drawing, just for Shadow. He has probably never given one of his pieces of art to anyone before. 

Shadow’s mind drifted back to Sonic dropping the picture of Maria. He remembered himself shouting at Sonic before he dropped it. He then realized that it wasn’t Sonic’s fault this happened, but his own. If he had just kept his voice down and not scared him, this wouldn’t have happened. 

He pulled his hand away from the frame that held Sonic’s drawing and backed out of his room. He went back to the picture that held Maria. The picture itself wasn’t damaged, thankfully. And Shadow could just buy a new frame later. There was no need to take this out on Sonic anymore. 

Shadow then turned his attention to the door to Sonic’s room. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he remembered the terrified look on Sonic’s face when he told him to go in there. 

“He’s probably terrified of me now.” Shadow muttered to himself. 

He figured he should just wait until Sonic comes out on his own, but he was unsure how long that would be. Sonic might never come out of his room until Shadow came in and said he could come out. He was maybe taught to think that way in his previous homes. 

He decided to go and tell Sonic it was alright to come out, so he turned towards the blue hedgehog’s room and walked towards it. He opened the door and looked around. No sign of the hedgehog. Shadow was slightly worried, and walked in. He looked under the bed, but saw nothing. He could feel the dread forming in his chest as he moved to open the closet. When he pulled the door open, there was Sonic, hugging his knees and trying to hide behind the hanging clothes. Shadow quietly sighed in relief, but furrowed his brows in dismay when he heard the poor kid’s whimper. He wondered if Sonic had been in here the whole time he had been gone. It seemed probable, given his fear at the moment. Shadow felt his shoulders go slack as the guilt filled him. He really needed to work on his temper, especially if he was gonna be around this kid most of the time. 

“Hey.” Shadow said, kneeling down. 

Sonic peeked open an eye to see Shadow. His shaking stopped when he saw Shadow’s expression, but he didn’t come out of his position. Shadow guessed it made him feel safer since he had his quills puffed up. 

“You can come out now.” Shadow continued. 

He then stood up and backed away, not wanting to frighten the little hedgehog anymore than he already has. He backed out of the room, leaving both doors open to let Sonic know he certainly was allowed to come back out. 

Shadow decided to give the kid his own time to come back out and turned the TV back on. Instead of the track race, it was now a cop show. Shadow rolled his eyes at the sight, because he knew how cheesy these were. But he decided to just watch, as he had nothing better to do until dinner time.  
He watched the show for a good while, and when the police had busted into a house in search of a suspect, he felt the couch shift beside him. He looked in the corner of his vision to see Sonic sitting beside him, holding his knees again. Shadow didn’t say anything, but switched the show to an educational show on animals, since he knew it was probably bad if Sonic watched cop shows. He stared at the TV, trying to make it seem like he didn’t notice Sonic, when he heard a small voice speak up. 

The voice was a low mumble, so Shadow couldn’t quite make out what it was saying. 

“What?” Shadow asked, turning to face Sonic.

“I’m sorry.” Sonic said, a bit louder. “I’m sorry I broke your picture, and I’m sorry for touching something I shouldn’t have.” 

Shadow let out a sigh, but before he could speak up, he saw Sonic handing him his coloring notebook. 

“I made you another one.” Sonic said, shyly. “I hope it makes you feel better.” 

Shadow was shocked at the gesture, but looked at the picture Sonic said he made. It was a drawing of a human girl with blonde hair and a blue dress. It wasn’t the best drawing, but Shadow immediately knew that it was a drawing of Maria. Shadow could feel the guilt building inside him. Sonic truly felt as if this whole thing was his fault. He probably made this as a way to say, “Please don’t send me back. I’ll be good.”

Shadow looked over at the child sitting beside him. He slowly reached out and placed his arm around the kid, pulling him close to him. He could feel Sonic tense up, which made him feel even more guilty. 

“Thank you for this, Sonic.” Shadow said. “I appreciate it a lot. And I want you to know that I’m not angry at you.” 

He felt Sonic move, so he turned to meet his eyes staring back up at him. And that’s when he saw his tear stained cheeks. At this point, the guilt was crushing him. 

“You’re not?” Sonic asked, his voice cracking a bit. 

“No.” Shadow replied. “None of this was your fault. It was mine.” 

Sonic’s eyes were wider than ever. Shadow guessed that no one had ever taken the blame like that. He must’ve been blamed for everything in his previous homes. 

“I shouldn’t have shouted at you.” Shadow continued. “It was my fault you dropped the picture, because I raised my voice at you. It’s what startled you and made you drop the picture. If I had just spoken normally, you wouldn’t have dropped it. I hope you can forgive me for my mistake, as I have forgiven you.” 

Sonic’s eyes welled up with tears, and then he threw his arms around Shadow. Shadow was stunned, to say the least, at the sudden action, but slowly wrapped his arms around Sonic to return the embrace. 

“I forgive you.” Sonic said, sniffling as the tears flowed down his cheeks again. “And thank you for not being mad.” 

Shadow smiled and just hugged Sonic tighter, pulling the kid into his lap. They continued to hold onto each other for a good long while.

* * *

The rest of the day went on as normal as it could be. Sonic and Shadow watched some TV, ate dinner, and pretty much stayed close together. Shadow had the feeling that Sonic believed if he got too far away from him, he wouldn’t be able to get close again. Shadow didn’t mind it anyways. He preferred the kid close to him than hiding in his room. 

When the night finally rolled around, Shadow decided it would be a good time to put Sonic to bed. 

“Alright, buddy.” Shadow said, getting up from the couch. “It’s time for us to head to bed now.” 

Shadow switched off the TV and picked Sonic up to carry to his bedroom. Sonic clung to Shadow as they walked, but when Shadow stopped to open the door to Sonic’s room, Sonic spoke up. 

“Can I sleep with you tonight?” Sonic asked. 

Shadow was a bit startled at the question and looked down at the kid in his arms, confused. 

“Why?” Shadow asked. 

“I-It’s just because I’m not used to sleeping on my own, yet.” Sonic explained. “Since I’ve always had to share rooms, I usually sleep with other people in the room. A-And since I’m not fully used to living here, I was wondering if I could sleep with you. J-Just for tonight, if that’s okay.” 

Shadow sighed. He understood that Sonic was just scared of being alone. It wasn’t irrational. Sonic had been alone most of his life, so it made sense why he didn’t want to sleep alone. He probably worried that he would wake up, and this whole thing would be a dream or something. 

Shadow turned and began to walk to his own room, Sonic still in his arms. He carried Sonic into his room and set him down, shutting the door behind them. He then began to take off his shoes, socks, and gloves. He leaves his rings on during the nights, just in case. 

After removing his articles of clothing, he proceeded to climb into bed. He looked and saw Sonic was still standing by the door. 

“You coming?” Shadow asked, holding the blanket up, invitingly. 

Sonic’s eyes widened a little as he walked up to the bed and crawled inside next to Shadow. Shadow draped the blanket over the both of them and wrapped his arm around Sonic. Sonic wrapped his arms around Shadow in return, and buried his face in Shadow’s chest fur. 

“Shadow?” Sonic spoke up in a timid voice. 

Shadow hummed in response, his eyes starting to close. 

“Who was that person in the picture?” Sonic asked. 

Shadow’s eyes shot open at the question. Why of all times did Sonic have to ask about that now?  
Shadow just sighed and said, “She was my best friend. She um... she died a long time ago.” 

“Oh.” Sonic replied in somber. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s alright.” Shadow said, rubbing Sonic’s back. “It’s not your fault.” 

“I-If it makes you feel any better, I’ve never had a friend before.” Sonic said, faltering a little. “U-Until today, at least.” 

“Oh yeah?” Shadow replied. “And who would that friend be?” 

“You.” Sonic answered. 

Shadow flinched at the answer and looked down at Sonic’s emerald eyes. 

“You are my friend, right?” Sonic asked. 

Shadow hesitated, but smiled and said, “Of course. If we weren’t friends, then I don’t think I would let you sleep in my bed with me.” 

Sonic let out a giggle.   
“Thank you, Shadow.” he said, snuggling further into him. “I like having you as a friend.” 

“I like having you as a friend too, Sonic.” Shadow replied. “And, as your friend, I’ll always be here for you.” 

“Do you promise?” Sonic asked. 

“I promise.” Shadow replied. 

“Pinky promise?” Sonic asked, holding out his hand with his pinky up. 

Shadow had heard of this gesture before, but he thought that it was only in movies or in kids shows. He never thought he’d see a kid do it in real life. 

But nevertheless, he lifted his pinky and wrapped it around Sonic’s. 

“Pinky promise.” Shadow said. 

Then they both held onto each other, and let sleep take them for the night.


	9. Tough Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic and Shadow's bond grows even stronger

The first few days of being a foster parent were tougher than Shadow was expecting, but he made it work. When the weekend ended, Shadow began taking Sonic to the school he was enrolled in, which thankfully wasn’t too far from his work, so he could be able to pick him up instead of having him take the bus. He figured that, since Sonic was still pretty shy, and going to school was hard enough, it would be better if he could drive him home instead of having him be on a bus full of kids who would likely pick on him for his fur color. 

This meant Shadow had to take shorter shifts so he could get off work sooner to pick up Sonic and stay with him the rest of the day. Since Sonic wasn’t old enough to be home alone, Shadow had to be there with him. That meant he would have to switch from full-time to part-time with his job, or do work from home. He didn’t mind either, as long as he could spend time with Sonic. Despite only knowing the kid for such a short time, he grew very fond of him. The nights where he would carry Sonic to bed after he fell asleep in his lap, the small games of hide and seek, and telling jokes at the table during meals. He hadn’t smiled so much in so long. And to see Sonic’s smile, it’s almost as if the whole world is alright when he bares that grin. 

It made Shadow want to protect that smile. It felt like nothing would be okay if Sonic stopped smiling. Shadow looked over at the picture of Maria Sonic had drawn, hanging on the fridge with a few magnets. He remembered that day he yelled at Sonic when he dropped the other picture of Maria, which was now sitting in a brand new frame. He still held guilt from that day, even though Sonic forgave him. 

“I promise, Maria.” Shadow said to himself. “If the whole world truly does revolve around his smile, I’ll make sure it never leaves his face. I just hope... wherever you are, you’re smiling, too.”

As Shadow was talking to himself, he heard little footsteps coming his direction. He turned his head to see Sonic standing there, holding a stuffed hot dog that had a dog head on one end, and a tail on the other. It seemed to be Sonic’s favorite plushy. 

“Hey, buddy.” Shadow said, turning in his seat so his body was facing Sonic. “Do you need something?” 

Sonic said nothing, but walked up to Shadow. When he came up next to him, he set down his plushy, and wrapped his arms around Shadow’s waist. Shadow was surprised by the sudden action, but wrapped his arms around Sonic in return, and pulled him into his lap. He knew that Sonic just needed him to be there for him. He didn’t need Shadow asking any questions, he just needed him there. 

Sonic buried his face in Shadow’s chest fur, which was his favorite thing to do when they hugged. For that reason, Shadow keeps his chest fur well groomed so it’s nice and soft for Sonic, and so he doesn’t get itchy or tickled when doing it.   
Shadow just smiled as Sonic hid his face in his chest, and just sat there rubbing the kid’s back in comfort. 

After a few minutes of hugging, Sonic pulled back from Shadow’s chest. 

Shadow decided that now would be the best time to ask what was up, since Sonic seemed to feel better. 

“What’s wrong, buddy?” Shadow asked. “Something happen?”

“No,” Sonic replied looking up at him. “I just wanted a hug.” 

Shadow immediately knew that was a lie, since Sonic looked quite distraught when he came up to him. But he decides not to push it, as he figured Sonic just needed some time to gain confidence to tell him what was wrong. That was the same for Shadow. Whenever something was wrong with him, he was always nervous about telling other people, because he never knew how they would react. He figures that Sonic might be the same way, and just needs time before he could tell him.   
He just hopes that Sonic will tell him soon, and he won’t have to figure it out himself in the future. 

During the next day, at work, Shadow was doing a scouting mission. Everyone was one the lookout for Robotnik, since he made a threat a few days prior. Shadow and Sonic saw it on television, and while Shadow rolled his eyes, Sonic hopped off the couch and started shouting at the TV, saying, “You won’t get away with this, Eggman! No matter what, Shadow will stop you! Because he’s a superhero! And that’s what superheroes do!” 

Shadow chuckled at the comment, allowing Sonic to climb into his lap after yelling at the TV, even though the doctor couldn’t hear him. He rubbed Sonic’s head as Sonic beamed at him, like he actually told the doctor off. Shadow smiled back and began to ruffle Sonic’s fur, sending Sonic into a fit of giggles. 

Shadow enjoyed that moment they had. It made him smile at work, which was something he has never done before. It was things like that that made all the work to get to where he was now worth it. Shadow would never admit it, but Sonic made him feel happy. And happy was an emotion he hasn’t felt in a very long time. 

After finishing up his search, he checked the time and saw that it was almost time for Sonic to be getting out of school. So he headed back to HQ, signed out, and began to leave. He was on his way to the parking lot to retrieve his rental car to pick up Sonic, when he was stopped by a familiar friend. 

“Hey, sunshine.” the voice of Rouge spoke up. “Where are you off to so early?” 

Shadow sighed, not wanting to deal with her and just get out to be with Sonic. 

“I’m finished with work, Rouge.” Shadow replied. “So I’m heading home.” 

“Since when do you get off so early?” She asked. “Is it because of that ‘thing’ you keep talking about that’s helping you with your loneliness?” 

“Yes.” Shadow replied, turning around to leave. 

“When are you gonna tell me what it is?” She asked, following him. “Or am I gonna have to figure it out for myself?” 

“Rouge, what I am doing shouldn’t concern you.” Shadow replied, annoyed with her persistence. “If what I am doing is helping me, then you shouldn’t have to know about it.” 

“Okay, geez.” she said, holding up her hands in mock surrender. “No need to be so touchy about it.” 

“I’m only ‘touchy’ because you keep pestering me about it.” Shadow responded. “I already told you, I’ll tell you about it when I feel comfortable enough.” 

“Okay, fine.” Rouge sighed. “But that better be soon.” 

Shadow shook his head as she turned heel and headed back inside. Shadow finally headed to his car and began to leave to meet Sonic at his school. 

Shadow pulled up to the front of the elementary school that Sonic attended. He watched as kids came out the doors, waiting for his little blue buddy to come out. It was a few minutes before that happened, and then Sonic came out the doors. He was shaking his head, and looked to be trying to get something out of his quills by swatting at them. Shadow raised a brow at this action, but got out of the car to greet him.   
When Sonic saw Shadow, he smiled. Shadow slightly raised a brow. He could tell right away that the smile was forced. With how tight his lips looked, it didn’t look like the genuine smile Shadow usually knew from the kid. Nevertheless, he knelt down to pick up Sonic, and put him in his booster seat. As he was buckling him in, his nose picked up an odor coming from Sonic. And it smelled awful. It smelled like literal garbage. Shadow wrinkled his nose at the smell. 

“You smell awful.” Shadow commented, looking at Sonic. “We’ll need to give you a bath when we get home.” 

Shadow then proceeded to get into the driver’s seat to take them both home. Although, he didn’t notice the terrified look on Sonic’s face when he mentioned giving him a bath. 

When they arrived home, Sonic dashed into his room immediately. Shadow assumed he was going to get ready for his bath, and began to head towards the bathroom to get the water ready. He made sure it was nice, warm, and not too hot for the kid’s sensitive skin. He didn’t have any bubble soap, so he couldn’t give him a bubble bath, which he was sure the kid would like, so he made a mental note to look for some next time he went out grocery shopping. 

When the tub was filled and ready, Shadow called for Sonic. 

“Sonic!” Shadow called. “Bath is ready!”

Shadow received no response. 

“Sonic, come on!” Shadow groaned, standing up to go find him. 

Shadow entered Sonic’s room, seeing him nowhere. But he did hear a small whine coming from the closet. He walked over and opened the door, seeing Sonic huddled on the floor, hugging his hot dog plush. 

Shadow knelt down to meet the kid’s eyes and asked, “What’s wrong, buddy?”

“I don’t wanna take a bath.” Sonic replied, his voice sounding a little shaky. 

“Why?” Shadow asked. “You smell really bad, and this will help you smell better.” 

“I know, but…” Sonic faltered with his words. “I’m scared of baths.”

“Why?” Shadow asked, surprised. 

“I-In my old homes, w-when I would take baths with my foster siblings, th-they would push me down a-and hold my head under the water.” Sonic responded, looking like he was on the brink of tears. “It was so scary! I couldn’t breathe!”

Shadow couldn’t believe it. The kid had nearly been drowned several times over. No wonder he was scared. This kid had gone through so much trauma, and at such a young age. 

“Well, no kids are gonna push you underwater this time, since it’s just you and me.” Shadow said, putting his hand on Sonic’s shoulder. “But you still have to take a bath. I can’t have you smelling like that.” 

Sonic hugged his plushy more, showing his fear to Shadow. Shadow didn’t like seeing Sonic so scared. He didn’t like seeing his smile gone. 

“How about this?” Shadow started, getting Sonic’s attention. “You can hang onto me while I clean you. That way there’s no way you’ll fall into the water. And if you do, I’ll dive in and save you. Sound good?” 

Sonic gave it some thought, but slightly nodded. Shadow lifted him up off the floor of the closet and set him on his bed, there he removed his shoes, socks, and gloves. When he finished removing his clothes, he lifted Sonic up and carried him to the bathroom. When Sonic saw the tub of water, he clung onto Shadow even tighter. Shadow rubbed his back to calm him. When he tried to pry him off to set him in, he was holding on pretty tightly. 

“It’s okay, Sonic.” Shadow said reassuringly. “I’m right here. Nothing bad will happen to you while I’m here.” 

Sonic waited a moment, and then loosened his grip on Shadow. Shadow then slowly lowered Sonic into the tub. Sonic flinched when he felt the water, but didn’t struggle. When his waist was fully in the water, he wrapped his arms around Shadow’s neck, shaking in fear. Shadow didn’t say anything, and began to soak Sonic’s quills by cupping water in his hands and letting it pour on Sonic’s dry spots. When most of Sonic’s fur was wet, he then grabbed the quill shampoo and began to scrub it into Sonic’s dull quills. Sonic didn’t struggle or protest as Shadow scrubbed him, he just clung to Shadow, like he told him to. 

When Sonic’s fur was covered in bubbles from the shampoo, Shadow chuckled at the sight. He had to rinse it out, but he didn’t think he would be able to do that by just cupping water and drizzling it onto Sonic’s quills. He would need him to lean back and soak his quills, but Shadow was unsure if he would even do that, given how afraid he was.

He decided to just ask him. And if it didn’t work, he would figure out an alternative. 

“Sonic, I need you to do something for me.” Shadow said. “But you might not like it.” 

Sonic looked at Shadow and asked, “What is it?” 

“I need you to lean back and soak your quills in the water.” Shadow replied. “Just so we can scrub off the shampoo.” 

The fear returned to Sonic’s face. Shadow was quick to say, “You don’t have to stick your face under. Just your quills. And I’ll hold onto you so you don’t slip and fall under. Just be brave for me, okay buddy?” 

Sonic looked like he was gonna cry, but took a deep breath and nodded. Shadow smiled at him, and placed a firm grip on Sonic’s arms as the blue hedgehog slowly leaned back, dunking his quills into the warm water. Shadow wrapped and arm around the kid’s back and ruffled his fingers through his quills to get all the soap out. Sonic’s eyes were tightly shut, and Shadow had the feeling the kid might’ve been holding his breath. 

When Shadow was done, he pulled Sonic back up and rubbed his back. 

“Good job, Sonic.” Shadow said. “That was so brave of you.” 

Sonic looked at him, and a shy smile crossed his face. 

“Now all that we have left to do is scrub your body, and then we’ll be done.” Shadow said. 

Sonic let out a small sigh of relief, and let Shadow continue cleaning him. 

It was a tad difficult while scrubbing Sonic’s whole body, especially since Sonic was ticklish. When Shadow scrubbed his stomach, Sonic curled away in reflex and giggled. Shadow let out a light laugh, but pressed the wash cloth to his stomach again, trying to scrub it. Sonic kept trying to pull away, but Shadow finally got a good grip on the little boy and scrubbed his stomach, causing Sonic to giggle uncontrollably. The same process when he scrubbed Sonic’s feet.

When Sonic was fully cleaned and rinsed, Shadow lifted him out of the tub and set him on the toilet seat. He then reached into the tub and pulled the plug from the drain to let the water drain out. He then grabbed a towel and began to dry the little hedgie off. Rubbing every bit of his soaking fur until he was only a little bit damp, then grabbing a soft brush and brushing out the snarls in his quills. Sonic sat there patiently as Shadow did this. When Shadow finished, he let Sonic head back to his room, and went to prepare dinner. 

While dinner was finishing cooking, Shadow called for Sonic. Sonic came into the kitchen wearing polkadot pajamas, and hopped into a chair. Shadow set a plate of meatballs, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Sonic seemed skeptical about it, which was expected when children saw greens on their plates. He took his fork and picked up a meatball, taking a bite out of it. It didn’t taste bad, so Sonic ate the rest of it, and the rest of the meatballs. He did the same thing with the mashed potatoes and green beans. His face scrunched up at the taste of the bean, and he put it down and began to get off his seat.

“Where do you think you're going?” Shadow asked, raising a brow. 

Sonic looked back at him, confused. 

“You didn’t finish.” Shadow said, gesturing to his plate. 

“But those don’t taste good.” Sonic stated, like it was obvious. 

“They might not taste good, but they’re good for you.” Shadow replied. “If you eat them, you’ll grow big and strong.” 

“Like you?” Sonic asked, eyes widening in surprise. 

Shadow gave a curt chuckle and said, “Sure. Like me. And then you can be a superhero, too.” 

Sonic looked like a kid in a candy store. Eyes wide and sparkling with wonder, his jaw dropped in awe, and his body tense with joy.   
Sonic hopped back up on his seat and began to eat his beans. Shadow chuckled at his enthusiasm. He’d never seen a kid so excited to eat his greens, ever. Perhaps Sonic really did want to become a superhero. 

Later, after dinner, Sonic and Shadow were sitting on the couch, watching more track racing. Shadow inhaled Sonic’s clean scent. Then it crossed his mind; how did Sonic come to smell so bad in the first place? He didn’t smell that awful when he dropped him off at school. 

“Sonic?” Shadow spoke up, getting the kid’s attention. “How come you smelled so bad when I picked you up? You didn’t smell that bad when I dropped you off. What happened?” 

He saw Sonic’s eyes go wide in fear, and his cheeks flush in embarrassment. He hunched his shoulders and fiddled with his thumbs. 

“W-Well, I...” Sonic started slowly. “One of the janitors was taking out the trash bags from the cans, and I was walking past it, and my quills accidentally poked it and caused it to rip and spill on me.” 

Shadow sighed and said, “Sonic, I know you’re a good kid and you mean well, but you’re a really bad liar.” 

Sonic flattened his ears against his head and averted his gaze from Shadow. 

“Your quills are too dull to tear anything right now.” Shadow explained, ruffling his hand through said quills. “Tell me the truth, Sonic. No lies.” 

Sonic let out a little whine as Shadow placed an arm on his shoulder and pulled him close. He felt Sonic’s shoulders starting to shake, which meant he was starting to cry. Shadow didn’t say anything, but pulled Sonic into his lap and held him close. He let Sonic cry on him, rubbing his back to let him know that everything was okay. 

When Sonic’s cries reduced to sniffles, Shadow sat him up and began to wipe away his tears with his thumb. Sonic looked up at Shadow, sniffling just a few more times before speaking up. 

“I-I’m... I’m... b-being bullied at school.” Sonic said, lowering his head and closing his eyes in shame. 

Shadow stared at Sonic in disbelief, and mentally slapped himself. Of course Sonic would be bullied. He had an odd fur color, which made him a clear target for bullies. He was also shy, which meant he wouldn’t tell people about it, so the bullies wouldn’t get in trouble either way. 

“What else have they done to you?” Shadow asked.

“Th-They pinch me and push me and trip me.” Sonic explained. “Sometimes they pull on my quills or my ears.” 

“And today they spilled garbage on you?” Shadow asked. “Is that why you were brushing your fur with your hands when you came out to meet me?” 

Sonic nodded nervously. Shadow could feel how tense he was. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Shadow asked. “And why did you feel the need to lie about it?” 

Sonic started to break down again. 

“I-I didn’t want to bother you with my troubles.” Sonic spoke, tears peaking his eyes again. “A-And I wanted to try and be strong like you are when you fight the bad guys. I’m sorry! Please don’t be mad at me!” 

Shadow pulled Sonic close again. 

“I’m not mad at you, Sonic.” Shadow said, trying to soothe the crying child. “Granted, I am a little disappointed that you didn’t tell me straight away, but I’m not mad at you. In fact, I’m glad you told me. Because now I’ll make sure to let your school know.”

Sonic let out a whine and buried his face into Shadow’s chest fur. Shadow stroked his head and just sat there. 

After a while, Sonic pulled his head away and sniffled, rubbing away the tear stains with his arm. 

“I-I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” He said, sniffling again. 

“It’s okay.” Shadow replied, rubbing Sonic’s head. “I’m just glad you told me now. And since you did, and were so brave with your bath, how would you like a treat?” 

Sonic’s eyes lit up.   
“A treat?” He asked excitedly. 

Shadow nodded and lifted Sonic off his lap, setting him on the couch, and standing up to head to the kitchen. Sonic followed, tail wagging rapidly. Shadow reached up on top of the fridge and pulled down a jar. He set it on the counter and grabbed a cup from the cupboard. He then grabbed the milk from the fridge and filled the cup. When the milk was put back, he took the jar again and opened it, pulling out chocolate chip cookies. When Sonic’s eyes laid on those, Shadow could see them twinkling with glee. He smirked and set three cookies by the cup of milk. Sonic hopped into the seat and began to munch down on the cookies. 

“This is also your reward for finishing your dinner.” Shadow said, sitting down beside Sonic. 

Sonic beamed at Shadow, his face covered in cookie crumbs. Shadow just chuckled and watched as Sonic enjoyed his treat. He guessed that Sonic never had a treat like this. Sonic probably never had a dessert, since he was always outcast. But, since Shadow and him weren’t too different, and since Sonic was his only child, he was able to give him little things like this, but to Sonic, it must’ve felt like he was being spoiled.

The next day, Shadow was dropping Sonic off at school once again. Sonic looked quite nervous as Shadow unbuckled him from his booster seat. When he set him down, Sonic instantly clung to Shadow’s leg. Shadow sighed, but rubbed the kid’s head. 

“Come on, buddy.” Shadow said. “You gotta go.” 

“Can’t I come with you?” Sonic asked, pleading eyes looking up at Shadow. 

“Sorry, buddy, but you have to go to school to learn.” Shadow replied, kneeling down to meet his eyes. “And my work doesn’t really allow children. Besides, if you go to school, I promise to have a surprise for you at the end of the day.” 

“Really?” Sonic asked, the sparkle in his eyes returning. 

“Yep.” Shadow replied. “But you have to go to school, or you won’t get it.” 

“Okay.” Sonic said, wrapping his arms around Shadow to hug him. 

Shadow returned the hug, and sent Sonic on his way to school. He waved goodbye as he entered the building. Shadow then got back in the car and began to drive off, but instead of heading straight to work, he headed back home to grab Sonic’s surprise. 

The day was a little rough for Sonic. He tried very hard to be strong and brave, like Shadow was, but it was hard when the bullies were older than him by two years. He’d been pushed by a green hedgehog named Scourge, and a green hawk named Jet, several times, tripped, had his backpack tugged on, and was called many names. 

When the end of the day finally came, Sonic began to run out towards the doors. He heard Jet and Scourge calling his name, and looked back to see them chasing him. His eyes filled with fear, and he ran as fast as he could outside, but when he got out there, Shadow’s car was nowhere to be seen. 

He worried. Shadow had never been late before. Did something happen to him? 

Sonic didn’t have any more time to think, as he was shoved to the ground. He looked to see Jet and Scourge laughing and pointing at him. Sonic couldn’t take it anymore, and started to cry. 

“Aw, the little loser cry baby is crying.” Scourge said mockingly. 

Sonic wept on the ground as they laughed at him, and then the roar of an engine filled the air. 

He heard the other kids gasping, and one shouted, “Who’s that?!”   
Sonic turned his head to see a motorcycle had pulled up, and the person riding it had a black leather jacket, and a black with red streaks helmet on.   
Sonic watched as the person removed their helmet, and to Sonic’s complete utter surprise, it was Shadow. He watched as he removed the helmet and shook out his quills. He set the helmet on one of the handle bars, and got off, walking towards Sonic and his bullies. 

When Shadow stood next to them, he crossed his arms and put on a terrifying scowl. Sonic could see them literally shaking. He was trying hard not to laugh, but the sight was hilarious. 

“Why are you bullying my son?” Shadow asked, making Sonic flinch and stare at him. 

The bullies were speechless. 

“If I ever catch you doing this again…” Shadow began. 

“We won’t!” Scourge yelped. 

“We swear!” Jet followed, hiding behind Scourge. 

Shadow grunted at them, but picked up Sonic and walked back to his bike. He placed the helmet on Sonic’s head, and had him sit behind him, holding onto his waste. Shadow revved the engine a couple times, and then they were off. 

When they arrived home, Shadow helped Sonic off his bike, taking his helmet off and leaving it with his bike in the garage. When they got inside, Shadow turned to Sonic.   
“Did you like your surprise?” Shadow asked, a smirk on his face.

Sonic turned to him, his face was so bright with happiness, Shadow thought he might go blind from it. 

“I LOVED IT!!” Sonic squealed. “I loved it so much! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” 

Shadow smiled at the happy hedgehog. He knew that scaring those kids probably wasn’t the best idea, but seeing Sonic so happy right now, he could care less. 

Sonic then leaped at Shadow, who was unprepared but caught him in his arms nonetheless. Sonic hugged him tightly. 

Sonic looked up at Shadow with a wide smile and said, “Thank you so much, daddy!”   
He then proceeded to nuzzle Shadow’s chest in content. 

Shadow was shocked to hear those words. Sonic considered him as a dad? But how?   
Then he remembered how he called him his son in front of those bullies. Sonic felt like Shadow officially was his dad after that. Even though he was just his foster parent, Shadow could feel the words he heard beginning to melt his cold, dark heart. He, never in his life, would think that just a five year old kid would be capable of making him this happy. Shadow smiled and he hugged Sonic back tightly, placing a kiss on Sonic’s forehead. 

“I love you, Sonic.” Shadow said. 

“I love you too, daddy.” Sonic replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If y'all want to see what plushy Sonic had, here ya go https://i.pinimg.com/originals/73/16/bb/7316bbb9ba091b56614ae1f1dad386b4.jpg


	10. New things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic get's sick

Shadow was sitting in his office at work, filling out his report of his most recent encounter with the doctor. It had escaped his mind to call him “Dr. Eggman” when he saw him, so when he was writing about, he lightly facepalmed as he remembered. He just decided to make a mental note to tell him next time he saw him. 

Just as he finished filling out his report, the phone on his desk rang. It was his boss’s number. Shadow rolled his eyes and picked it up, listening to his boss telling him he wanted to meet him in his office to talk. Shadow agreed, hung up the phone and began making his way to his bosses office. 

The talk was exactly what Shadow expected. Why wasn’t he taking more hours? Why was he leaving work so soon? Why were his scouting missions so short? Shadow answered each question with the same answer. Personal reasons. Thankfully, he had no obligation to tell his boss the truth, as his boss had no right to know what was going on in his personal life, and Shadow had already talked to his boss’s boss about his change in contract, since the doctor wasn’t being too active these past few weeks, so Shadow had proof that he wasn’t violating anything. 

While Shadow was basically being interrogated by his boss, it was unknown to him that his cell phone began to ring back in his office. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Rouge just happened to be walking by, and her bat ears happened to pick up the buzzing noises of his vibrating phone. Curiosity took over her, and she decided to take a look. The number on his screen was shown as unknown, so that made her even more curious. She looked around, and picked up the phone, swiping the answer button. 

“Hello?” She said, holding the phone up to her ear.

“Hello, is this Shadow the Hedgehog?” The voice on the other end asked. 

“No.” She answered. “Who is this?” 

“Oh, I need to speak with Shadow.” The voice said. “It’s a bit of an emergency.” 

Rouge wanted to dig deeper, but hearing the word “emergency”, she figured it was just best to let Shadow know, and bother him about it later. 

“Sure, just a moment.” she replied, placing the caller on hold. 

She pressed her hand on the page button on the desk phone, sending a page to their boss’s office.    
“Shadow, there’s someone on your cell asking for you.” She explained. “They said it was some sort of emergency, and they need to talk to you.” 

“Shadow and I are busy at the moment, Ms. Rouge.” their boss replied, making Rouge roll her eyes. “If you would just tell that caller to wait, then-” 

Their boss didn’t even finish his sentence as Shadow appeared in the doorway of his office. Rouge smirked and tossed him his cellphone. Shadow nodded to her, and took the caller off hold and began talking to them. 

“Hello?” Shadow asked, holding the phone to his ear.

“Hi, is this Shadow the Hedgehog?” The person on the other line asked.

“Yes.” Shadow answered. “Who is this?”

“This is Wynona the Cat from Green Hills elementary school.” She explained. “I’m calling because your child, Sonic, came in here just a few minutes ago, and wasn’t feeling too well. So we took his temperature, and it turns out he has a fever. It’s just a small one, but we think it would be best for you to come and get him.” 

“Okay.” Shadow responded. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” 

“Thank you, Mr. Hedgehog.” She replied. “I’ll let Sonic know.” 

“Okay, bye.” Shadow said, and hung up, rushing to grab his things.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Rouge asked. “Where are you going?” 

“I can’t talk right now, Rouge.” Shadow said, shutting down his computer and walking out of his office. “I have to leave, now.” 

“Shadow, what is going on?” Rouge asked, following him. “I get that this might be part of your ‘thing’ that is helping with your ‘loneliness’, but you have to tell me if you are okay or not. Did something bad happen?” 

“Rouge, I can’t talk about this right now.” Shadow replied, heading over to clock out. 

Rouge scowled and grabbed his arm.  
“Shadow the Hedgehog, you better tell me what’s going on right now, or so help me I  _ will _ find out the truth myself.” she threatened. 

Shadow just stared at her, slightly angry, but mostly just tense. He knew he’d never shake Rouge at this rate. But he needed to go. 

“Look, as soon as I get home, I’ll call you and tell you everything.” Shadow said, hoping that would work. 

She stood there for a moment, but spoke up and said, “You better, or else I’m coming over to find out for myself.” 

She proceeded to let go of his arm, allowing him to leave, but glared at him the whole time he left the building. 

Shadow got in his car and drove as fast as the law would allow him to go to Sonic’s school. When he arrived, he parked at the front and dashed in, his patience wavering. He headed into the front office, explaining who he was and why he was there. He was then shown to the nurse’s office, where he saw Sonic lying on a cot, wrapped up in a blanket. One would have thought he was sleeping, but Shadow could see the discomfort on his face. He walked over to his foster son, knelt down beside him, and nudged his arm. Sonic slowly opened his eyes and looked at Shadow. 

“Hey, buddy.” Shadow said. 

“Hi, daddy.” Sonic replied, his eyes leaking tears due to his weak state. 

“I’m here to take you home.” Shadow explained. 

“Really?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah.” Shadow answered. “Can you stand up?” 

Shadow had to help Sonic sit up, but Sonic was able to stand. He was a bit dizzy, but he could still walk. Shadow signed Sonic out of school, and walked him out to his car, getting him buckled into his seat, and getting into the driver’s seat to take them both home.    
After arriving home, Shadow carried Sonic and his backpack inside to his room. When he got there, he helped Sonic take off his shoes, socks, and gloves and helped him get into his pajamas. Sonic shivered a little bit, but Shadow wrapped him up in his blankets to make sure he stayed warm. 

“Are you hungry, buddy?” Shadow asked. 

Sonic nodded lightly, due to his headache. 

“How about I make you some soup?” Shadow asked. “Would that make you feel better?” 

Sonic hummed affirmatively in response. 

“Alright, then.” Shadow said standing up. “You get some rest while I’m getting it ready. I’ll come get you when it’s done.” 

He helped Sonic lay down gently, and tucked him into his blankets. He gave him a small peck on his forehead before leaving him alone. He went into the kitchen and took out a can of chicken-noodle soup. He placed a pot on the stove and poured the contents of the can in, then turned on the stove burner that the pot was sitting on. He stirred the noodles and chicken, letting them warm up as the heat rose in the burner.    
After a few minutes of heating the soup, he heard footsteps. He turned his head to see Sonic standing there, looking miserable. 

“Sonic, you’re supposed to be resting.” Shadow said, kneeling down to meet the kid’s tired eyes.

“I can’t sleep.” Sonic replied. “My body hurts.”

Shadow had never experienced sickness, given he was an experiment with alien blood that could recover from anything quicker than a normal mobian, but he knew the symptoms that came with a fever. Headaches, chills and shivering, muscle aches, and general weakness. He once took care of Rouge when she had a fever, while her boyfriend, Knuckles, was struggling to come back home from his duty of guarding the Master Emerald to see her and take care of her himself. Shadow had taken care of her until Knuckles had gotten there, so he knew all the symptoms from her constant whining over them. 

Right now, Shadow wasn’t annoyed with Sonic whining over pains. He just pitied the poor kid, wanting to just take the sickness away somehow. But he didn’t have that sort of magic in him, and the only thing he could do was make sure Sonic got lots of tender, loving care. 

“I’m sorry, buddy.” Shadow said, pulling Sonic into a gentle hug. He could feel Sonic’s body heat rising. He wasn’t so sure if soup would help with that, but he knew that it helped Rouge when she was sick, and it was a recommendation to have soup when you're sick, because it can satisfy your thirst and hunger. 

“Your soup is almost done.” Shadow said, lifting Sonic up and setting him in a chair. 

Sonic shivered once Shadow let him go.    
“I’m cold, daddy.” Sonic said, rubbing his arms. 

“I know, bud.” Shadow replied. “But this soup will warm you up. And then you can spend the rest of the day in daddy’s warm arms.” 

“Okay.” Sonic responded weakly. 

It broke Shadow’s dark heart to see this kid in such a state. He really hoped this fever wouldn’t last long, because he was already missing the energetic, lively boy who shared his home with him.    
Shadow took the pot of heated soup, grabbed a bowl, and carefully poured the soup into the bowl. He then grabbed a spoon, and set both the bowl and utensil in front of Sonic. 

“Be careful.” Shadow warned. “It’s pretty hot, so don’t eat too fast or you’ll burn your mouth.” 

Sonic nodded and took a spoonful of soup, lightly blowing on it to cool it off, then sipped the broth from the spoon, and ate the noodles. Shadow took a seat next to Sonic, watching as he ate and rubbing his back. Sonic’s pained face seemed to relax as he ate, which helped Shadow feel better about the whole situation.    
After Sonic finished, Shadow took him in his arms, making a mental note to wash the bowl later, and carried him to the couch. He held Sonic on his lap as they watched a show about dogs running an agility course with the guidance of their masters. Sonic seemed interested, which was helping distract him from the aches in his weak body. 

After about an hour of watching, Shadow felt Sonic go limp next to him. He looked down to see the blue, speedy hedgehog had dozed off on him. Shadow picked up the sick child and carried him to his own bedroom, instead of Sonic’s bedroom. There he set him in his large bed, and covered him up with his blankets. This way, he could keep an eye on him while he did some extra work. 

After a few hours of working, it was dinner time. Shadow decided to leave Sonic to sleep while he went to fix dinner. However, when he entered his kitchen, he heard a knock at the door. He stared at the door, his guard raised. It was pretty late for any visitors, and he did invite anyone over. He walked over to his door, trying to listen to who might be on the other side, while gripping the knob. He didn’t hear voices, but he heard the sound of heels on the pavement. At that sound, he knew who was outside his house now. He face palmed and sighed, wishing to be in any other situation than this. 

“Open the door, Shadow.” came Rouge’s voice from the other side of the door. “I know that you’re in there.” 

Shadow lightly tugged on his quills, but he knew she wouldn’t leave until he talked to her. So, despite his annoyance with the whole situation, he turned the knob and started to open the door.    
He tried to open it slowly, but as soon as the door started to move, Rouge shoved the door open entirely, nearly knocking Shadow down. Shadow glared at her, but before he could snap at her, he looked and saw that Knuckles was also there. 

“What are you doing here?” Shadow asked, raising a brow. 

“She kinda dragged me here.” Knuckles replied, rubbing the back of his head. 

“He’s here just in case we have to beat the information out of you.” Rouge said. 

Shadow just gave her a “really?” look, knowing she would never make Knuckles do that, and she would never want Shadow to be hurt. He was probably just here for moral support. 

“You promised you would call me, Shadow.” she growled. “But you never did. I’ve decided enough is enough. So you better tell me what’s going on right now.” 

“I don’t have to tell you anything, Rouge.” Shadow replied, scowling at her. “It’s my personal business, not yours. I’ve already told you it’s nothing illegal, and nothing to be concerned about.” 

“Shadow I barely see you.” she retorted. “That alone is worrying. You’re acting like it’s wrong to care about your friends. I want to know what’s going on. Why won’t you just tell me?” 

“Because it’s none of your business to know.” Shadow said again. “Why must you always stick your nose in my business?” 

“Why do you always have to shut your friends out about everything?!” She snapped back, raising her voice. “Why can’t you just accept that we care about you?” 

“Why can’t you just trust me about this?” Shadow growled. 

“Why can’t you trust  **_me_ ** with this?!” She snarled. 

Shadow was about to shout back at her, but a small, weak voice interrupted him.

“Daddy?” The voice of Sonic spoke up. 

Shadow looked over to see Sonic standing there, his face flushed, fur shiny from sweat, and his body shaking. He looked really uncomfortable. He must’ve woken up because of their shouting, and he had to climb out of the bed while still feeling weak, so he was obviously still tired, even though he had only taken a few steps. 

Shadow sighed and walked over to the sick kid, scooping him up in his arms and cradling him. Even though Sonic was five, he was still small enough to fit in Shadow’s arms.    
Shadow gently rocked Sonic, petting his head, and lulling him back to sleep.

When Sonic’s eyes were shut, Shadow looked up at his two guests. Both Rouge and Knuckles were standing there, staring, and mouths agape. Shadow just sighed and moved to sit on the couch. Rouge and Knuckles followed him, Knuckles sitting on the armchair, and Rouge beside him on the couch. 

“First of all, keep your voices down.” Shadow said in a low voice. “He’s sick, and he needs his rest.” 

“What’s his name?” Rouge asked, whispering. 

“His name is Sonic.” Shadow replied, also in a whisper. “He’s about five years old, if that’s your next question.” 

“He called you ‘daddy’.” Knuckled whispered. “Is there something we don’t know?” 

Shadow took a deep breath, turned to Rouge and asked, “Remember that one day about two months ago when you gave me suggestions on how to deal with my loneliness?” 

“Yeah?” Rouge replied, raising a brow. 

“Well, one of those suggestions was me... well, getting a kid.” Shadow said. 

Rouge’s jaw dropped again.    
“No way.” she said. “You adopted this kid?” 

“No, not adopted.” Shadow replied. “I’m fostering him until he becomes adopted.” 

“So he’s your foster kid?” She asked, gaining a nod from Shadow.

“But why does he call you his dad?” Knuckles asked. 

“I guess he just thinks of me that way.” Shadow replied. 

“Wow.” Rouge breathed. Then throwing a smirk and saying, “I guess I’m gonna have to call you ‘Dadow’ now, huh?”

Shadow glared at her and said, “Don’t you dare.”

She let out a light chuckle. 

“Also, please don’t tell anyone at work about this.” Shadow said. “It was a real struggle to get this guy in the first place, and I don’t want all that work to go to waste because people at work think I’m dangerous. Also, he’s been abandoned so many times. I don’t want that to happen to him again.” 

Rouge put a hand on Shadow’s shoulder, gaining his attention.    
“Your secret’s safe with us, honey.” she said. “Right, Knuckles?” 

Knuckles responded with a nod.

Shadow felt Sonic shuffling in his arms, and heard him make some noises. He looked down to see the weak hedgehog waking up.    
Sonic rubbed his eyes, and looked around. He saw Shadow, but then looked and saw Rouge and Knuckles. 

Looking back to Shadow, he asked, “Dad, who are these people?” 

“These are my colleagues, Sonic.” Shadow answered. “Rouge, and Knuckles. 

“We’re his friends, sweetie.” Rouge said, eyeing Shadow. “We work with him sometimes. It’s nice to meet you.” 

Sonic gave her a weak smile and said, “It’s nice to meet you, too.” 

Shadow heard Sonic’s stomach start to growl, and he knew that it was already past dinner time.

“Well, as much as I would love to continue this little meet and greet, I’m afraid it’s dinner time for me and Sonic.” Shadow said. 

“Oh, of course.” Rouge said, standing up and motioning for Knuckles to follow her. 

Shadow set Sonic on the couch to head to the kitchen to prepare dinner, but stepped next to Rouge, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

“Rouge, I know I shouldn’t be asking you this, but will you please cover for me these next few days?” Shadow asked. “I... I just can’t leave him like this.” 

“It’s okay, Shadow.” she replied. “I understand. And yeah, I’ll cover for you. If this is something that really makes you happy, then you deserve it.” 

“Thank you, Rouge.” Shadow said. “I owe you.” 

Rouge nodded, and left with Knuckles. Shadow turned to see Sonic’s bright green eyes, and little smile. 

“Alright, buddy.” Shadow said. “Let’s get dinner ready.” 


	11. Stay close or else

Sonic’s fever, thankfully, only lasted two days. And Shadow made sure to stay by his side as much as he could during those two days. He cradled Sonic in his arms, put up with silly cartoons, and even told him bedtime stories to help comfort him during those days. Shadow normally wouldn’t do these sorts of things for anyone, but it seemed like that changed when it came to Sonic. Shadow pretty much spoiled Sonic during his time at home. Giving him as much comfort and love as he could.    
Sonic was happy to spend every minute with his foster dad, despite the discomfort he felt while being sick. When he was finally better, and able to go to school again, he was begging Shadow to just stay home a little while longer so they could spend more time together. 

Shadow knelt down to be leveled with Sonic’s eyes, giving him a smirk. 

“Sorry, buddy.” he said. “But you gotta go to school so you can learn. How are you gonna grow up and be a superhero if you don’t go to school?” 

“Superheroes go to school, too?” Sonic asked, receiving a nod of approval. “Even you?” 

Shadow hesitated for a moment. He’d never actually gone to a school, and he didn’t want to lie to Sonic. But he did have some education programs with Maria back on the ARK, so that was kind of like a school, even though there were no classrooms. 

“Even me.” Shadow replied. 

Sonic hunched his shoulders. Shadow could clearly see in his eyes that he didn’t want to go to school, and just wanted to spend more time with him. 

Shadow just sighed and ruffled Sonic’s fur. 

“It’s just a few hours, buddy.” Shadow said. “And then it’ll be the weekend, and we’ll have two full days to spend with each other again. Does that sound okay?” 

Sonic paused for a moment, but nodded. 

“Okay, daddy.” he said, hugging his foster dad. “I’ll see you after school.” 

“I’ll see you then, too.” Shadow replied. “Have a good day. And if those bullies bother you again, remind them who your dad is.” 

“I will.” Sonic replied, then skipped off into the school. 

Shadow smirked as he watched the young boy enter the building, and then got in his car and headed off to work. 

The day for Sonic started off okay. Thankfully, Scourge and Jet left him alone, and a few other kids came up to him and told him how cool his dad was. He thought it was pretty neat that students were starting to like him now, and all thanks to his dad. 

During his reading class, the school intercom went on, startling everyone. 

“Lockdown initiated.” The principal’s voice spoke. “This is not a drill. Everyone get to appointed lockdown locations.” 

Sonic was confused and nervous at the announcement. They’ve done lockdown drills before, but they’ve never had an actual lockdown before.    
The teacher quickly locked the door and ushered the kids to a corner in the classroom away from the door and windows. All the kids stayed close together, trying to stay as quiet as possible, only a few whispers here and there. 

Everything suddenly went way too quiet. The whispers stopped as everyone tried to listen. 

BAM!! 

The walls exploded, receiving screams from everyone in the room. The teacher stood up, trying to shield the children from any incoming debris.    
As the kids screamed in terror, robots began to come through the destroyed wall. 

“Collect the children.” a few of the robots said, and they started to advance towards the kindergarteners. 

“No!” The teacher yelled, holding out her arms to try and block the robots. “Stay away from them!” 

A robot approached her and swatted her aside in a rough manner, knocking her to the ground. The kids started to cry in fear as the robots started to approach them. They screamed as the robots picked them up. Sonic scooted back as far as he could, but the robot clamped its metallic hands around his body. He tried to kick and flail his way out of his capture’s hold, but to no avail. Tears made their way to his eyes and he started to cry as the robot carried him and his classmates out of the destroyed class.    
Sonic looked and saw a huge space ship in the air, and the robots were each flying up to it. He then saw the symbol on the side of the ship and gasped. He now knew who was behind all this.    
He tried again at kicking and flailing his way out of the robot’s grip on him, but his tiny muscles couldn’t get those hands to budge even a little bit. The robot holding him took off into the air with the others and entered the ship. They were then carried to a room and all tossed into a cage. Every kid was screaming and crying, terrified of what was to come. 

Suddenly, a loud clang rang out, and every kid screamed. 

“Shut up, ya little rats!” A voice boomed, and they all looked to see none other than the evil Dr. Robotnik. 

Sonic, of course, couldn’t remember that name for the life of him. So he went with the name he called him by. 

“D-Doctor Eggman!” Sonic whined, ears pinned to his head, and crouched low. 

“What?!” The doctor boomed. “Who said that?!” 

Every kid pointed fearfully at Sonic. Sonic wasn’t angry at them. He’d most likely do the same if someone else said it, being fearful for his own life. He just looked up at the man, lip quivering, eyes filled with tears, and whining in fear. 

Robotnik snarled, opened the cage door, reached in, and grabbed the pour, frightened boy by the scruff of his neck. Sonic yelped in fear and pain as the doctor lifted him. 

The kids in the cage screamed, begging him not to hurt him, even though they just basically handed him over to the evil man. Sonic still couldn’t blame them. They were all scared. No one had any idea what this man was going to do to them, and no one wanted to get hurt in any way. Sonic knew they were just trying to keep themselves safe. 

Sonic yelped again as the doctor shook him. 

“You’re going to help me with my little... presentation.” the man sneered. 

Tears were streaming down Sonic’s pale furred cheeks.

“Perfect.” the doctor said with a sinister chuckle. “Now, let’s get this show on the road.” 

* * *

Shadow was trashing robot after robot. Robotnik had been spotted on the west side of Green Hills, and they saw a few robots causing some trouble. So they appointed Shadow and Rouge to check it out in case it was more serious than that. 

After trashing the final robot, the two stopped to catch their breath. Well, more like Rouge did. Shadow hadn’t even broken a sweat yet, so he wasn’t as out of breath as she was. 

“Well, that happened.” She said, wiping her forehead. 

Shadow knit his brows together as he looked around at the broken badniks. 

“What’s with the face, sunshine?” She asked. 

“Something doesn’t feel right.” Shadow said. “ _ This _ doesn’t feel right.”

“What?” She asked. “Us kicking robot butt?” 

“No.” Shadow replied. “This feels like just a warm up. Or a distraction.” 

“A distraction?” She repeated. “You’re giving the doctor too much credit, hun. He’s not that smart to do something like this. Besides, what would he even want to distract us from?” 

“I don’t know, I just-” he started, but was cut off at the sound of his communicator beeping. 

“Agent Shadow! Agent Rouge! Do you copy?” The voice of their commander spoke. 

“We’re here, what is it?” Rouge asked, walking over to Shadow’s side. 

“It seems that Robotnik has issued a massive attack on the south west side of the city.” the commander informed. “There’s major damage done to one of the schools there.”

“Which one?” Shadow asked.

“Green hills elementary.” the commander answered. 

Shadow’s eyes widened, and his heart began to race.

Rouge saw the expression, and spoke in his stead. 

“We’ll be there as soon as possible.” She said, and pressed the button to cut the call. She then looked up at Shadow’s horrified face. “What is it?” 

Shadow turned to look at her and said, “That’s Sonic’s school.” 

Rouge knit her brows together in confusion for a moment, but then remembered who Shadow was talking about. The poor, defenseless blue hedgehog boy that she met the other day with Knuckles, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.   
In the blink of an eye, they took off in the direction of the school. 

Upon arriving, the pair of agents saw scared children outside the school, meeting with their parents. Shadow looked around but didn’t see Sonic anywhere. Worry and fear overtook him. He couldn’t lose another. He just couldn’t

He looked over and saw one of the teachers being interrogated by some news folk. She had a bandage on the side of her head, so she must’ve had an encounter with the badniks. Shadow decided that she would be the right one to question where his foster son is. 

“Ma’am,” Shadow said, gaining the woman’s attention. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but are you a teacher here?” 

“Y-Yes, I am.” She responded, clearly shaken. 

“Did you see what happened?” Shadow asked. 

“Th-The robots...” She started, her voice wavering. “They... they took the children.” 

“Did... did they take Sonic?” Shadow asked, his fear growing. 

“I-I’m sorry, who?” She asked.

“A little blue hedgehog with green eyes.” Shadow explained. “Was he one of the kids taken?” 

The woman lowered her head. 

“Y-Yes.” She admitted. “I’m s-so sorry. I t-tried to-”

Shadow held up his hand to signal her to stop. He turned around and walked back over to Rouge.

“Get any good info?” Rouge asked as Shadow approached her.

“He took Sonic.” Shadow said, putting his hands to his head. “I... I failed him.” 

“Shadow, stop that right now.” Rouge ordered. “We are going to get him back. I promise.”

“How do you know he’s not already dead?!” Shadow snapped. 

“Because Robotnik wouldn’t just kill children for no reason.” She replied. “He probably took them to use as some sort of bribe to get us to surrender or something. But I’m sure he won’t hurt them.” 

Suddenly, one of the electric billboards by the school began to change what it was featuring. It glitched out a bit, but then showed the evil doctor, laughing maniacally. 

“I’m sure you’ve all caught on to my glorious scheme by now, haven’t you?” He asked, a triumphant grin plastered on his face. “Well, if you have, then you know very well what I have.” 

The video changed and showed a bunch of children locked in a cell. Shadow tried to pick Sonic out in the crowd, but didn’t see him anywhere. 

“You all have twelve hours to surrender, or you’ll never see the children again.” Robotnik informed. “Isn’t that right, little boy?” 

Robotnik lifted his hand to show a frightened blue hedgehog being held by the scruff of his neck, and whining in pain. 

Shadow gasped in alarm at the sight of his foster son. 

“Sonic.” Shadow said, staring unbelievingly at the scene unfolding before him. 

“Daddy!” Sonic cried. “Help me!” 

“Oh shut up, you little runt!” Robotnik snapped, and yanked on Sonic’s little quills. 

Sonic yelped in pain as more tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Remember; twelve hours.” Robotnik said. “Or you’ll never see these poor children again.” 

The screen on the billboard went dark, then shifted back into an advertisement. 

Shadow couldn’t believe what he had witnessed. He felt the anger burning inside him. The fury and rage rising. He curled his hands into tight fists and bared his teeth.

“Shadow?” Rouge spoke, coming up beside her colleague.

Shadow turned to look at her. 

_ “I am going to obliterate him.”  _


	12. Impact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle between the doctor and the heroes

Sonic whined in pain as Robotnik held him tightly. The doctor laughed maniacally after they presented his plan to the people of mobius. Sonic tried to struggle out of Robotnik’s grip, but to no avail. Every move added to the pain, as it made his skin pinch even more. 

“You won’t get away with this, Eggman!” Sonic cried. “My daddy will stop you!” 

“Will you stop calling me that?!” Robotnik snapped, holding the fearful hoglet to his face. “My name is not Eggman! It’s Dr. Robotnik! And who might your daddy be if he thinks he can defeat me?” 

“My daddy is the best superhero ever!” Sonic yelled. “Shadow the Hedgehog!” 

Robotnik froze at that, and then a malicious smile crept to his face. 

“You’re the son of Shadow, eh?” He asked. 

“Yeah!” Sonic snapped. “And he’s gonna stop you and your evil plans!” 

“Well, things just got more interesting.” Robotnik sneered, and began to carry Sonic out of the room.

“What are you doing?” Sonic asked. “Put me down!” 

“No way!” The doctor replied. “Now that I have you in my grasp, Shadow will be forced to bend to my will, or be forced to watch you cry in pain.” 

Sonic’s eyes widened in fear. He needed to get out of here. He didn’t want to be hurt anymore. And he didn’t want his dad to see him cry.  
He tried raising his quills, but they were still pretty dull, and had no effect on the hand holding him by the scruff of his neck. He whined in fear and discomfort. He grabbed the hand holding him, and turned his head as much as he could. He then opened his mouth and bit as hard as he could onto the hand holding him.   
It worked! Robotnik yelled in pain and released him. As soon as Sonic hit the ground, he took off running. 

“Don’t just stand there!” Robotnik yelled at his robots. “Get him!” 

Sonic shrieked as the robots chased him. He was running as fast as he could, but his little legs could only carry him so far. As a robot reached out for him, Sonic rolled up into a ball reflexively, and rolled out of reach of the bot. He rolled continuously until he found himself hidden under some panels. He held his hands over his mouth to silence his whimpers as he heard the robots and the doctor pass by. 

“Come on out, little boy.” The doctor called. “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.” 

Sonic knew he was lying. He had just said earlier he would make him cry in front of Shadow. 

Shadow.

Sonic needed to find a way to let him know where he was. Maybe there was something he could use back in the room where they were before. He just had to figure out how to get back there without being seen. 

“Shadow, you need to calm down.” Rouge said to the frantic hedgehog. 

“How can you say that, Rouge?!” Shadow snapped. “That boy was supposed to be under MY protection! And now he’s in the hands of Mobius’s biggest threat! Did you see the tears in his eyes?! He’s hurting and he’s fucking terrified!” 

“I know, Shadow.” Rouge replied. “But freaking out like this isn’t going to help get him back. We need to come up with a plan.”

“We don’t have time to come up with a plan!” Shadow retorted. “We need to act now!”

“Shadow-” Rouge started. 

“No, Rouge.” Shadow snapped. “You don’t understand. I... I can’t...” 

“What?” Rouge asked. “You can’t what?”

Shadow let his head fall in his hands.   
“I can’t lose another person I hold dear.” he said.

Rouge stared at him in shock. She never thought she’d see him like this. He’s always been so tough, ready to face anything and deny failure. Yet, here he is. On the brink of tears over a child that wasn’t even his. 

“You really love him, don’t you?” She asked. 

Shadow looked up to her.   
“He’s my son, Rouge.” He replied. “I love him more than... _anything_.” 

A smile crossed Rouge’s face.   
“Then let’s go get him.” she said. 

Shadow’s eyes widened, and then Rouge grabbed him and began to fly, carrying him and herself to where the ship was seen heading to. 

After about thirty minutes of flying, they finally came across a base. There were some badniks guarding the entrance, so it meant something was happening inside. 

“This must be the place.” Rouge said, landing behind some trees to keep cover. 

“I hope so.” Shadow replied after she set him down. “I don’t want to keep Sonic waiting any longer.” 

“Remember, Shadow.” Rouge said. “Sonic’s not the only child in there. He’s not the only one that needs rescuing.” 

Shadow nodded. 

“I’ll call Knuckles and his team so they can get the kids out of here, and I’ll also call Omega just in case we need extra backup.” She informed him. “While I’m doing that, you find us a way in without letting the doctor know we’re here. We don’t know if he’ll hurt those kids if he finds out. And if he discovers that Sonic is your kid-”

“Don’t talk about that, Rouge.” Shadow interrupted her. “I don’t even want to think about what he’ll do if he finds out Sonic is mine.” 

“Then we better hurry and get them out of here before he finds out.” Rouge replied. 

Shadow nodded and went ahead to find a silent way in. 

Sonic tiptoed as best as he could past the search robots. Since they landed, he tried following the ones who moved the kids so he wouldn’t be all alone. And if he found them, he could maybe try to free them.  
He crawled under tables and behind crates, doing his best to stay hidden. He didn’t want that mean doctor to find him again. He already hurt him by squeezing the scruff of his neck too hard, and then he threatened to hurt him in front of his dad. There was no way Sonic was gonna let him do that again. 

After a few minutes of searching, his ears perked up to the sounds of fearful crying, and he began to make his way towards the source.  
He moved towards the sounds, hearing them grow louder and louder as he got closer. When he finally found the room, he found his classmates in another cage, crying and screaming for help. 

“Guys, it’s me!” He announced, coming into the kids’ field of view.

The kids looked to see Sonic, and their eyes widened. 

“Sonic, help us!” One boy cried. 

“Please!” Another added. 

Sonic began to look around for any way to free his trapped classmates. He saw the cage lock was too high for him to reach, and even if he could, there was a lock on it. He looked around the room, hoping to find a key. Thankfully, there was one hanging on the wall, but it was also out of his reach. He looked around again, and spotted a chair. He grabbed it, and began to drag it by the wall. He hopped onto the chair, and reached up to grab the key. He then proceeded to take the chair over to the cage and stood on it, putting the key into the cage to unlock it. But just before he could do that, a large hand grabbed his. 

“Gotcha!” A familiar voice yelled.

Sonic screamed and turned to face the one who grabbed him, only to be met with the familiar, ugly face of Dr. Robotnik. His eyes widened in fear, and the doctor snatched the key away and pulled Sonic off the chair. 

“So I finally caught you, you little pest.” Robotnik said, lifting Sonic up by his arm and stuffing this key into his pocket.

“Let me go, you big bully!” Sonic whined. “My dad will kick your butt!” 

“Oh he can try.” the doctor replied. “But after he sees you after I’ve prepared my reveal, he’ll have no choice but to comply with my demands. Now, let’s go get you set up for my next presentation.” 

“No!” Sonic screamed. “Put me down!” 

Sonic struggled as hard as he could as the kids in the cage reached through the bars, begging Robotnik to let him go. He was squeezing Sonic’s arm rather tight, hurting the poor , frightened boy. 

Tears welled up in Sonic’s eyes as he tried to pull himself free. 

“Daddy!” Sonic screamed in last hope. 

“Oh please.” the doctor scoffed. “Your dad is nowhere near-” 

A large blast interrupted Robotnik, along with knocking him and Sonic back. After catching his balance, and standing back up, he looked up to see two silhouettes walking through the smoke from the blast. Robotnik tried to squint to see who they were, but when they passed through, it was none other than Shadow the Hedgehog, and Knuckles the Echidna.

“Daddy!” Sonic squealed, trying to pull out of the doctor’s grip to run up to his foster father. 

Robotnik didn’t let the boy go, but stood there in shock. Shadow scowled at the doctor, his irises seemingly glowing with anger.  
He raised his hand and summoned a chaos spear, aiming it for the doctor. 

“I suggest you release my son unless you want to become a human shish kebab.” Shadow growled. 

Robotnik didn’t need to be told twice. He knew Shadow’s aim was exceedingly accurate, and even if he tried to use Sonic as a shield, Shadow would still manage to hit him. So the doctor released Sonic’s arm, allowing him to run up to Shadow and cling to his leg.  
Shadow lowered one arm to rub Sonic’s head, and averted his eyes to the crying children in the cage. He turned to look at Knuckles, and gestured for him to move towards it. Knuckles nodded, understanding, and approached the cage. 

“Stand back.” Knuckles ordered as he raised a fist back. 

The kids back up as Knuckles bashed the cage door open with a single punch. The kids scrambled out, all getting behind Shadow, who still had his spear aimed at the doctor. 

“Tails, Rouge, we got the kids.” Knuckles said, pulling out his walkie-talkie. “Get the plane ready. We’ll be out in a minute.” 

Knuckles began to corral the kids out the hole in the wall that he and Shadow made. Shadow kept his eyes on the doctor the whole time. When the kids were out, Shadow tossed the spear, hard, at the doctor’s feet, causing him to flinch. 

“Don’t you ever try to hurt my son again.” Shadow warned. “Because next time... I won’t be so merciful.” 

Robotnik said nothing as Shadow turned and left with the others. But Shadow didn’t see the slight smirk on his face.

As soon as they got outside, Shadow lifted Sonic into his arms. Sonic wraps his arms around Shadow’s neck and hugs him tightly. 

“I’m sorry, Sonic.” Shadow said, holding him close. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

“It’s not your fault, daddy.” Sonic replied. “It’s Eggman’s fault. He did this, not you. And I knew you would come to save me.” 

Shadow smiled at his foster son.  
“I guess you’re right.” he said. 

“Wait, did he just call the doctor ‘Eggman’?” Rouge asked. 

Shadow looked over at her, raising a brow.  
“Uh, yeah?” Shadow replied. 

Rouge instantly doubled over in laughter.

“That is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard!” She spoke between breaths

Knuckles was also laughing.   
“We should call him that from now on.” he said. 

“Oh, I fully agree.” Rouge responded. 

Shadow smirked, letting out a light chuckle. 

“Well, let’s go get these kids back to where they belong.” The young fox, Tails, spoke after every kid was in the plane. 

They all nodded and entered the plane, and then took off back to the city. 

During the flight, they were all focusing on keeping the frightened children calm. None of them had ever been in a plane before, so even light turbulence was terrifying.  
As they were calming them down, the seatbelt sign suddenly came on. They were confused, but then the plan suddenly jerked to the left, taking everyone with it. The kids screamed at the sudden movement, and scrambled back to their seats as the plain leveled off. 

“What the hell was that?!” Shadow asked, entering the cockpit. 

“Looks like the doctor didn’t give up as easily as we had hoped.” Tails replied, pointing at the radar. “He’s right behind us and closing in, fast.” 

“Crap.” Shadow grumbled. “Just try to keep out of range of his weapons. We’ll handle the kids and-”

Shadow was interrupted by thumping sounds above them. 

“He must be sending badniks to attack the plane.” Tails guessed. 

“Great.” Shadow groaned. “We’ll handle them. Just get us out of here, quickly.” 

“I’ll do my best, but this plane only goes so fast.” Tails replied. 

Shadow headed back to where the kids were, and Rouge and Knuckles fasten their seatbelts. 

“Okay, we got some badniks to fight.” Shadow said to his colleagues, then turning to the kids. “You all stay here and don’t cause any trouble.”

“Daddy, wait!” Sonic squealed. “Don’t go! You could get hurt!” 

“Sonic, I have to do this to keep you and them safe.” Shadow said, putting his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “Remember how I promised you would always stay safe with me around?” 

“But what if you don’t come back?” Sonic asked, tears forming in his eyes. “What if something really bad happens?” 

“I promise I’ll come back.” Shadow said. 

“Pinky promise?” Sonic asked, holding up his hand with his pinky up.

“Pinky promise.” Shadow replied, wrapping his pinky finger around Sonic’s. “Now, I need you to be daddy’s brave boy and keep everyone here calm. Can you do that for me?” 

Sonic nodded firmly. “Yes, daddy.” He said. “I won’t let you down.” 

“I know you won’t, buddy.” Shadow replied, rubbing Sonic’s head before walking over to Rouge and Knuckles who were waiting by the door.

“Aww, you’re so cute.” Rouge cooed. 

“Shut up, Rouge.” Shadow growled, making Rouge snicker. 

They quickly slipped out the door, making sure to not let any oxygen slip out, and got on the roof of the plane. Instantly, they were surrounded by badniks.

“Alright, Knuckles, you cover the front of the plane.” Shadow said. “Don’t let them break into the cockpit. Rouge, you defend the tail, we need that if we’re gonna land safely. I’ll protect the wings. If one of those comes off, or if the engines blow, we’re done for. Now let’s get moving.” 

They fought as hard as they could, defending the plane with everything they had. There were broken badnik parts everywhere. But they just seemed to keep on coming.  
As Shadow smashed a robot into another, he saw as two combustible projectiles shot out of the doctor’s airship, heading towards the plane. Shadow had no way of stopping both. One maybe, but not both, but he did his best to launch his spears, colliding them with the projectiles. It kept them away from the plane, but the shockwave from their combustion hit the plane rather roughly. Shadow saw Knuckles lose his balance and began to slip off, so he ran and quickly pulled him up. Static and the occasional voice came from Knuckles’ walkie-talkie. Knuckles pulled it out and turned it on. 

“What’s going on?” He asked the fox on the other end. 

“We lost the engines!” Tails exclaimed. “We’re losing altitude, fast! We’re gonna crash if we don’t do something!” 

Shadow began to panic at that news. If they crashed, everyone was sure to die. All those innocent kids would never live their full lives. Sonic... he would... Shadow shook his head. 

“Rouge, I need you to get into that egghead’s ship.” Shadow commanded. “Get control in any way possible, and get it under the plane. If we do crash, it will cushion our fall and that should help prevent any tragedies.” 

“I’m on it.” Rouge replied, taking off towards the doctor’s airship. 

“Knuckles, you and me will try to restart those engines.” Shadow said, turning to the echidna. “We need to get them going just long enough for Tails to pull up slightly enough for Rouge to get under without too much of a rough hit.” 

“Alright.” Knuckles responded with a nod. 

“Tails, keep trying to pull up.” Shadow spoke through the walkie-talkie. “We’re gonna try to restart the engines.” 

“I’ll do my best.” Tails replied. 

And with that, Shadow and Knuckles got to work. They opened up the engines and tried to jumpstart them with sparks, but the wires were too frayed. Shadow grunted, realizing he’s gonna have to use his chaos energy to power the plane. It would take a lot out of him, since it’s a big vessel, and he’ll need to channel it through the whole thing, but he had no other choice. He began to focus on purging his energy into the plane, whirring the engines back to life. He felt the plane begin to tip up, but slowly. He looked back to see the airship coming underneath them, meaning Rouge successfully hijacked it. When Shadow couldn’t go anymore, he stopped. If he tried to push himself, he would have collapsed, and they didn’t need another person to worry about.   
He felt the plane shake as it hit the airship underneath it. 

“Guys, the plane’s too heavy to balance on the airship!” Tails shouted through the walkie-talkie. “We’re going in for a crash landing. Brace yourselves!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the second cliff hanger, but I didn't wanna make this chapter too long.  
> I'm starting immediately on the next one, so don't worry


	13. Overcome

The plane was filled with screaming kids, as it was descending hard. Sonic watched out the windows as he saw the plane going down. Even his young mind knew that something bad was going to happen. He had no idea what to do, but he knew that since the front of the plane was going to be what hit, he figured that if people were there, they would get hurt. Like when you fall on the ground; the part of your body that hits the ground feels the most pain. So he decided he needed to get everyone away from the front of the plane. 

“Everyone!” He shouted as loud as he could to get his classmates’ attention. “We need to get to the back of the plane, now!”

No one argued or questioned why, thankfully. They all listened to Sonic, unbuckled their seatbelts, and ran to the back of the plane, huddling together. Sonic was about to join them, but remember the fox who was driving the plane. He quickly dashed into the cockpit, seeing the fox trying to pull what looked like a steering device up.

“Hey, come with me!” He said, pulling the fox’s arm. 

“Kid, what are you doing?” The fox asked, looking down at Sonic. 

“The plane’s gonna crash!” Sonic yelled. “We need to get to the back or we’ll be badly hurt.” 

The fox hesitated, but got up from his seat and followed Sonic to the back of the plane with the other kids. 

“Hang on tight, kids!” The fox yelled. “This is gonna be a rough landing!” 

The fox spread his tails in front of the children, blocking them from whatever was to come, and then... it hit. 

The impact was, indeed, hard. Everyone was shot off the ground and hit the ceiling as the plane and the airship below it hit the ground. They watched as the cockpit tore away, pieces of metal flying everywhere as the front of the plane was ripped apart and pretty much taken off. Thankfully, since no one was near the front, no one got too badly hurt. Some kids ended up with cuts from the flying metal, others had bruises from hitting the seats, but most were just in shock.    
The fox had the most cuts since he stood in front of the group to block them from anything, but all in all, everyone was okay. 

“Is everyone okay?” The fox asked, looking back at the kids. 

They all sheepishly nodded. So the fox moved away from them and moved towards the plane emergency exit. He opened it and had the kids follow him out. 

As Tails helped the children out of the plane, Shadow was on the hunt for a certain human. He was seeing red, his face showing nothing but rage, and he might have been puffing smoke through his nose.    
The plane crash left him in shock. He watched as the cockpit had been destroyed, and tried to shout inside, hoping someone would answer him. Hoping... Sonic would answer him. Receiving no answer, his heart quickened and he felt the tears building up in his eyes. He didn’t want to believe it. He couldn’t have lost him after working so hard to get him. That just couldn’t be it. And yet... there was no evidence against this. 

Shadow lowered his head and grit his teeth. He struggled not to let the tears fall, but it was difficult. His ears twitched as he heard machinery sounds beside him, and saw one of the badniks falling off the plane. That moment was when he started seeing red. When he remembered who the cause of all this was. 

As he walked around, he heard grunts of annoyance, and metal clanging. He followed the noise to see Robotnik, or Eggman as they were now calling him, kicking a broken badnik in frustration. Shadow zeroed in on his target, and approached. 

“Doctor.” Shadow spoke with a poisonous tone. 

The doctor froze, turning around to see a very pissed off Shadow. 

“Sh-Shadow!” Eggman exclaimed, trying to back up. “L-Let’s talk about this.” 

Shadow had no interest in talking. As soon as Eggman faced him, Shadow made his move. He lunged at the doctor, striking him hard many times until he was badly bruised and bleeding. He kicked and punched, hurting him as much as he could. 

When he knocked the doctor to the ground, he grabbed him by the shirt and stared him in his eyes. 

“I warned you once not to ever hurt my son again.” Shadow growled.

“Shadow, w-wait!” Eggman yelled, trying to free himself from the angry hedgehog’s grip.

“Now, because of you, he is gone.” Shadow lowered his head, and his angry eyes were hidden in shadow. “Now, you’re finally going to hell for all you’ve done.” 

“Shadow, please!” Eggman pleaded, holding his hand up to block himself as Shadow raised his hand.

“Chaos sp-”

“Daddy!” 

Shadow froze at the sudden interruption. His ears twitching to make sure he heard right. When he heard nothing after, he looked back at the doctor, scowling. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by the same voice he heard. 

“Daddy, where are you?!” 

Shadow let go of the doctor’s shirt to turn around and fully focus on the voice. He could hear more voices that sounded like children. His eyes widened in hope.    
He was suddenly shoved down, and looked to see the doctor booking it away from him. Shadow thought about going after him, but he needed to see if that voice he was hearing was who he thought it was. 

He raced to the other side of the plane, and there he saw it. Every single kid was okay.  _ His  _ kid was okay.

“Sonic!” Shadow called. 

The blue child looked over, his emerald green eyes meeting with the dark hedgehog’s ruby red ones. 

“Daddy!” Sonic squealed, and made a beeline for Shadow. 

Shadow knelt down, holding his arms out and lifted Sonic up into a tight hug once he collided with him. Shadow spun the two of them around while nuzzling Sonic’s cheek with his nose, and kissing his face. Sonic giggled and nuzzled him back. 

“Daddy, I was brave like you said, and I helped save the other kids!” Sonic exclaimed. 

“You did?” Shadow asked. 

“Yeah, he did.” Tails spoke up, walking over to them. “He was smart enough to know to get everyone to the back of the plane before the crash so we wouldn’t be affected by the impact since the nose of the plane was going to hit the ground first.” 

“That’s amazing!” Shadow said. “I’m so proud of you, Sonic!” 

Sonic looked up at Shadow, and his face was practically glowing. His smile was so big and his eyes were wide and filled with happiness.

“Really?” Sonic asked, barely able to contain his happiness. 

“Of course!” Shadow replied. “And you know what, that bravery of yours saved all these kids. Therefore, making you a hero!” 

Sonic’s jaw dropped, and his eyes somehow got wider.

“Like a superhero?” He asked, hopeful. 

“Exactly like a superhero.” Shadow replied. 

Sonic began to squeal in happiness, hugging Shadow again. Shadow patted his back and smiled. His eyes snapped open when he heard someone go “aww” in front of him. He looked up and saw Rouge’s smug expression, and lightly scowled at her before rolling his eyes. 

“As touching as this is, we really should get moving to get these kids home.” Knuckles spoke up. “Since we’re without transport, we’ll have to make the rest of the journey on foot, and we better hurry before the kids start to fuss.” 

They all agreed, and Shadow put Sonic down, holding his hand as they began to make their way with the other kids back to the main city. 

Thankfully, they had made a good distance in the plane, and were only one mile away. The kids obviously fussed about being tired and wanting their parents, but they thankfully managed to suck it up for the remainder of the two thousand steps.

When they arrived back to the city, Rouge made a call to their boss about the retrieval of the kids, and asked where to bring them so they could return them to their parents. Their boss asked them for their location and told them that they would arrive and help escort the kids to their parents, and thanked them for dealing with the matter so quickly. 

Many people from GMO came in trucks and began to take the kids so they could get them to their parents.    
Shadow’s boss came up to him, eyeing the blue hoglet in his hand. 

“And who are your parents, kid?” He asked Sonic. 

Sonic clung to Shadow tighter, feeling shy and knowing not to talk to strangers. 

“He’s with me, sir.” Shadow said. 

His boss raised an eyebrow. 

“He’s with you?” He repeated in question.

“Yes, sir.” Shadow replied. “I am his foster parent.” 

“And is that the reason you have been leaving work earlier during the week?” His boss asked, his face showing slight disbelief.

“Yes, sir.” Shadow replied. 

“And you didn’t think to inform us about that?” His boss asked. 

“It was never any of your concern what I do with my personal life, sir.” Shadow said, a frown forming on his face. 

“Bullshit.” his boss scoffed. “I think you’re fucking lying.”

“Hey, watch your language!” Shadow snapped. “There’s children here.”

“Yeah, and none of them are yours.” His boss growled. 

Shadow opened his mouth to talk back, but was interrupted when a sudden boot collided with his chest, and he felt Sonic being torn out of his arms.    
Shadow hit the ground with a grunt, and looked up to see his boss walking off with Sonic in his arms. 

“Hey!” Shadow shouted, getting up and running after his boss. 

Before he could come into contact with him, two other GMO agents grabbed him and began to hold him back. He struggled in their grip, pulling them along with him slowly, but he wasn’t moving fast enough to catch up to his boss. 

“Sonic!” Shadow shouted, looking desperately at his child. 

“Daddy!” Sonic screamed back, looking terrified as he struggled.

“Don’t worry kid.” Shadow’s boss spoke. “We’ll get you home to your daddy, soon.” 

“Sonic!” Shadow shouted louder, trying to reach out as his boss was beginning to put Sonic in one of the trucks with the other kids. 

Shadow was panicking, and was about to summon a chaos blast to get these other agents off of him when he felt them being knocked off with a rough force, and seeing, ahead of him, Sonic being swiped from his boss’s arms in a swift second. His boss was startled, then looked back to see Rouge with Sonic in her arms next to Shadow and Knuckles, who had knocked the agents off of Shadow. 

“With all due respect,  _ sir. _ ” Rouge spoke, her voice laced with venom. “Under no circumstances are you authorized to take a child from their guardian.”

“There is no way that Shadow is any kid’s guardian.” their boss growled. “He has no way of proving that he is.” 

“And you have no way of proving that he isn’t.” Rouge growled back. “You are not authorized to make such assumptions. Only the general commander can do that, and you are NOT him. You have no power in this situation, and if you ever try to take this child from Shadow again, I will show you what a top trained GMO agent can do.” 

Their boss glared at her, but looked over at the glaring hedgehog and echidna looking his way, and decided that this was a fight he could not win. 

“Fine.” He huffed. “But I will be talking to the general commander about this, and CPS if I have to. This isn’t over.” 

He got back in the truck, and signaled the others to do the same, and they began to drive off, taking the kids back to their homes. Rouge came up to Shadow and handed Sonic back to him. Sonic held onto Shadow tightly, burying his face into Shadow’s chest fur. Shadow rubbing his back, soothingly. He understood Sonic was scared. Hell, Shadow was also scared. He thought that he would lose Sonic twice in one day, and that would cause him to lose his mind also. 

“It’s okay, buddy.” Shadow spoke in a soft voice. “I’m here.” 

Sonic didn’t say anything, just nuzzled further into his dad’s chest fur. 

“You ready to go home now, bud?” Shadow asked. 

Sonic lifted his head up and looked up at Shadow, nodding. 

“Alright.” Shadow said. “Then let’s go home.”

Shadow thanked Knuckles, Rouge, and Tails for all their help, and began to make his way home with his little ball of sunshine curled up in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting past all the crazy stuff. I was gonna make the part of Shadow's boss taking away Sonic longer, but I wanted to give you guys a break from the tense stuff. But trust me, there will be some more tense stuff in the future


End file.
